Cambodia’s successful hosting of last year’s ASEAN Summit and related meetings has prompted Laos to request the Kingdom for help in organising the meetings when it takes over the ASEAN Chair next year.
The request was conveyed to National Assembly President Khuon Sudary during a meeting before the first Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam (CLV) Parliamentary Summit.
Sudary met with Lao National Assembly President Xaysomphone Phomvihane at the National Assembly building in Vientiane on Sunday.
Xaysomphone said that next year, Laos will host the 45th ASEAN Summit and the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) and in order for the work of hosting the summit to be successful and fruitful, the Cambodian National Assembly as well as the government should support Laos’ process.
Xaysomphone also requested the Cambodian National Assembly to continue promoting and supporting the implementation of the memorandum of understanding and agreements that the two countries have signed.
He said that Sudary’s visit will play an important role in strengthening the traditional friendship and cooperation between the two countries, both the legislature and the executive, to be stronger, more comprehensive and more effective.
Sudary reaffirmed her support for the request by the Lao National Assembly President because it is in line with the will and objectives of Cambodia’s National Assembly.
She added that Cambodia’s National Assembly supports the hosting of the ASEAN Summit and the 45th IPA General Assembly of the Lao National Assembly next year to make the summit process smoother and more successful.
Sudary also stressed the importance of the relationship between the two countries, which not only benefits them and their people but also contributes to building peace and strengthening multilateralism in the region and the world.
Asean Chair for 2022, then Prime Minister Hun Sen declared the Asean Summit and related meetings in Phnom Penh, as successful, noting that it will be an honour for future generations.
The well-organised security and public order by Cambodia earned immense praise from different corners of the world.
The ASEAN leaders adopted a total of 70 outcome documents and declarations covering the three pillars of the ASEAN Community and endorsed various cooperation frameworks with the Dialogue Partners.
ASEAN also agreed to extend the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC) to include Ukraine during the 40th and 41st ASEAN Summits.
Kin Phea, director-general of the Institute of International Relations of the Royal Academy of Cambodia, said yesterday that it was normal for Cambodia and Laos to support each other, as Cambodia successfully hosted the ASEAN Summit.
Phea said that when Laos chairs the ASEAN Summit next year, Cambodia also provides support for both bilateral and multilateral frameworks, as the two nations’ relations are deep, comprehensive and traditional.
He said that the two countries have not had many issues with each other in terms of politics, culture and history, but trade between the two sides has remained low.
He said that apart from trade, other sectors were better off as good neighbours and brothers who had a common history during the French colonial era and the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War, as well as during the Cold War.
Phea added that Cambodia and Laos have always maintained good relations as neighbours who have many benefits in all areas and can live together in peace and happiness.
Leng Penglong, Secretary-General and Spokesman of the National Assembly, said that Sudary will continue to lead the Cambodian parliamentary delegation to attend the first Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam (CLV) Parliament summit hosted by Laos from yesterday to Thursday in Vientiane.
He added that the inter-parliamentary summit will strengthen and expand cooperation in all fields to deepen and comprehensively support the development projects of the three governments established in the Development Triangle (CLV-DTA) since 1999 and aims to turn the triangle into an area of peace and sustainable development.
Source : Khmer Times
