Senior officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) for Asia-Pacific met for talks on regional issues and the development of human rights and democracy in Cambodia.
The March 22 meeting was between foreign ministry secretary of state Chhiv Yiseang and OIF director Edgar Doerig took place at the ministry headquarters.
During the meeting, Yiseang told Doerig that Cambodia’s post-Covid economic growth had reached 5.2 per cent.
“The growth came from the government’s control of Covid and success in chairing ASEAN, despite the conflict in Ukraine,” a ministry press statement quoted Yiseang as saying.
The release added that Yiseang drew Doerig’s attention to the Asia-Pacific region, noting that its potential is becoming more and more apparent to the rest of the world.
Doerig said the purpose of his visit was to assist Francophonie partners on existing projects, as well as to explore new ones, under the OIF framework.
“Doerig also discussed OIF’s interest in the development of democracy and human rights in Cambodia,” added the release.
Yiseang told Doerig that Cambodia adheres to democratic principle and respects human rights, which had led to the French-speaking Parliamentary Assembly (FPA) removing Cambodia from their ‘alert’ list.
Both sides also touched on other areas of potential cooperation, including language course for Cambodian government officials and peacekeepers, and geopolitical development in the region.
