Cambodia ties 'strongest ever'

Cambodia ties 'strongest ever'

Vientiane — Thailand and Cambodia have pledged to push ahead with agreements previously signed during a joint cabinet meeting and support each other to play key roles at the United Nations, Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai said on Friday.

Speaking after holding a discussion with his Cambodian counterpart Hor Namhong, Mr Don said several bilateral issues were briefly raised in the joint cabinet meeting held last December at Government House, especially the implementation of cooperation pacts which will foster border trade and connectivity between the two countries.

Mr Don said two memorandums of understanding on labour cooperation have been earmarked as priorities due to the large number of Cambodian workers currently in Thailand.

Don: Frets over regional connectivity

He said Hor Namhong has insisted Cambodia will fully support Thailand in its bid for a seat as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for 2017-2018, while Thailand assured Cambodia it will receive its support to achieve membership of the Economic and Social Council — the UN body that is in charge of economic and social issues — in the same period.

“Aside from cooperation, we also discussed upcoming meetings including the Asean-Russia Summit in Sochi where we will follow up on what we have agreed to work together on," Mr Don said.

Asked about current relations in general, he said the Thai-Cambodian relationship is at its strongest point.

“We can see this from the joint-cabinet meeting in which [Cambodian] Prime Minister Hun Sen brought his cabinet members and businessmen to Thailand in December last year,” he said.

Mr Don added that ties are defined as "close" at both government level and among the people of the two countries.

No other particular issues were raised at the meeting, he said.

Mr Don and the Cambodian foreign minister will join their eight Asean counterparts in discussing regional and global issues at the foreign ministers' retreat today in Vientiane, where Thailand will ask Asean Community members to boost awareness of the negative side effects of seamless connectivity.

A Foreign Ministry source said Mr Don will recommend that Asean implement concrete measures to deal with threats arising with regional connectivity, particularly transnational crime and terrorism.

At the retreat hosted by Laos, Asean foreign ministers will also discuss challenges and the situation after being transformed into a single bloc at the end of last year, especially the implementation of Asean Vision 2025 concerning how to build the community amid development gaps, said the source.

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