Prime Minister Le Minh Hung’s visit: Creating new momentum for deeper, more substantive and effective Vietnam–Cambodia cooperation
WVR - The visit to Cambodia by Prime Minister Le Minh Hung not only further strengthens the increasingly close and complementary connection between the two economies but also opens up opportunities to form a more comprehensive economic ecosystem between Vietnam and Cambodia.
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| Prime Minister Le Minh Hung presides over the welcoming ceremony for the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia, Samdech Moha Borvor Thipadei Hun Manet, on his official visit to Vietnam and participation in the third ASEAN Future Forum, on June 8. (Source: VGP) |
This is the assessment of Vietnamese Ambassador to Cambodia Nguyen Minh Vu with The World and Vietnam Report when interviewed about Prime Minister Le Minh Hung's official visit to Cambodia (October 9-10), at the invitation of Prime Minister Hun Manet.
Could the Ambassador share the objectives, significance, and expectations of the visit?
The official visit to the Kingdom of Cambodia from October 9-10 marks the first foreign bilateral visit by P Le Minh Hung in his capacity as Prime Minister, clearly reflecting Vietnam's utmost regard and priority in strengthening and deepening its relationship with Cambodia.
Amidst the highly complex and unpredictable international and regional situation, the visit reaffirms Vietnam's determination to work with Cambodia to foster a peaceful, friendly, cooperative, and jointly developing environment in the region, as well as to promote all aspects of cooperation between the two countries.
The visit is also an opportunity to enhance mutual trust, attachment, and understanding between Prime Minister Le Minh Hung and the highest leaders of Cambodia.
Since the beginning of 2026, both sides have exchanged delegations among high-level leaders, agreed on many important directions, and reached strategically significant consensus, especially the state visit to Cambodia and participation in the high-level meeting of the two parties, three parties by General Secretary To Lam (February 2026) and the official visit to Vietnam, participation, and speech at the third ASEAN Future Forum by Prime Minister Hun Manet (June 2026), as well as the official visit to Vietnam by National Assembly President Khuon Sudary (July 2026).
In the upcoming talks and exchanges during the visit, I believe that Prime Minister Le Minh Hung and Cambodian leaders will review, resolve, and address existing issues and obstacles in various cooperation areas between the two countries; concretize and realize the commitments and agreements reached, while discussing and identifying new strategic cooperation directions and priorities for the bilateral relationship in the coming time.
Many leaders from ministries, sectors, localities, and Vietnamese enterprises will accompany Prime Minister Le Minh Hung. Both sides are expected to sign several cooperation documents.
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| Ambassador Nguyen Minh Vu. (Photo: Embassy of Vietnam in Cambodia) |
I expect that Prime Minister Le Minh Hung's first visit to Cambodia will not only contribute to further consolidating political trust, enhancing economic, cultural, and educational cooperation, and promoting people-to-people exchanges, but also create new momentum and impetus for the bilateral cooperation to deepen, become substantive and effective, especially in promoting economic, trade, and investment cooperation, better leveraging the complementary nature of the two economies, aiming to soon raise bilateral trade turnover to 20 billion USD in the near future.
How does the Ambassador view the potential for forming a “connected ecosystem” between Vietnam and Cambodia in the coming phase, which includes not only trade, investment, and transport infrastructure but also logistics, cross-border e-commerce, digital transformation, science and technology, and linkages between localities and businesses? What specific boosts can the Prime Minister's visit provide for this process?
Economic, trade, investment, and tourism cooperation are truly bright spots and important cooperation areas in the overall Vietnam-Cambodia relationship.
In terms of trade, in 2025, bilateral trade turnover reached a record 11.3 billion USD; in the first eight months of 2026, it reached approximately 8.7 billion USD, up 8.3% compared to the same period in 2025.
Vietnam is currently Cambodia's third-largest trading partner, second in exporting goods to Cambodia, and also the second-largest importer of Cambodian goods. Vietnam currently has 223 investment projects in Cambodia, with a total registered capital of nearly 3.4 billion USD, not only operating effectively but also creating jobs for tens of thousands of workers, significantly contributing to the budget and making practical contributions to social welfare in Cambodia.
In terms of tourism, in the first eight months of 2026, Vietnam was Cambodia's leading international tourist source with over 585,000 visits, while Cambodian tourists to Vietnam in the first nine months reached approximately 630,000 visits, up 40.5%, making it Vietnam's sixth-largest tourist-sending market. These figures reflect the increasingly close ties and exchanges between the people of Vietnam and Cambodia.
I believe that Prime Minister Le Minh Hung's visit to Cambodia will not only further strengthen the increasingly close and complementary connection between the two economies but also open up opportunities to form a more comprehensive economic ecosystem between Vietnam and Cambodia.
Firstly, it is about connecting transport infrastructure with both sides agreeing on the connection point of the Ho Chi Minh City-Moc Bai-Bavet-Phnom Penh expressway, helping to bring this arterial road into use as planned by the end of 2027, facilitating travel, goods exchange, tourism, and promoting people-to-people exchanges.
Besides road connections, both sides are also forming air connections with many direct flights between major cities and tourist destinations in the two countries; promoting waterway transport connections, including river and sea routes.
Additionally, both sides prioritize developing energy infrastructure connections through connecting power transmission systems, forming mechanisms for the purchase and sale of gasoline, oil, liquefied natural gas (LNG)..., to ensure development needs and energy security for both countries.
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| On April 22, Business Dialogue 2026 organized by the Vietnamese Embassy in Cambodia in collaboration with the Vietnam-Cambodia Business Association (VCBA), chaired by Vietnamese Ambassador to Cambodia Nguyen Minh Vu. |
Not only connecting in terms of hard infrastructure, but the two countries are also increasingly closely linked in terms of policies and development strategies. Policy and institutional bottlenecks are being coordinated to create a more open legal and policy corridor for stronger cooperation between the two countries. Both sides are also discussing the formation of a new economic cooperation mechanism to further promote economic, trade, and investment relations between the two sides.
Many major Vietnamese enterprises accompanying Prime Minister Le Minh Hung on this visit not only provide an opportunity for enterprises from both sides to meet and seek cooperation opportunities but also to present recommendations and proposals to the leaders of the two countries to resolve difficulties and obstacles, creating favorable mechanisms and policies for businesses to promote investment and business between the two countries.
Furthermore, the strong global development of science and technology is prompting Vietnam and Cambodia to increase investment in research to timely meet the development trends of the era, while also opening up new opportunities for increasingly close connections between the two countries. The resolutions and documents of the 14th Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam have placed science, technology, innovation, and digital transformation at the center of the economic growth model.
The Cambodian government also views science and technology, innovation as an important driver for the country's development and places it as one of the focuses of the Pentagonal Strategy Phase I. This has, is, and will create natural opportunities for connections between the two countries in this field, contributing to forming a comprehensive connected ecosystem between the two countries.
As a country with advantages and prior experience, I believe that Vietnamese enterprises, including Mefone (investment by Viettel Group in Cambodia), have the opportunity to support, promote development, and serve as a bridge for cooperation in cross-border e-commerce, digital transformation, and science and technology cooperation between Vietnam and Cambodia.
I am confident that Prime Minister Le Minh Hung's official visit to Cambodia this time will be an important milestone to transform the political trust between the two countries into specific strategies, commitments, and actions, creating foundational platforms to promote an increasingly strong and comprehensive economic connected ecosystem between Vietnam and Cambodia.
Mr. Ambassador, in recent times, people-to-people diplomacy has always been particularly emphasized by the leaders and people of the two countries. On this occasion, could the Ambassador share your assessment of the role of the younger generation (especially the youth, the next generation of officials, and the training of high-quality human resources…) in continuing, preserving, and nurturing the traditional friendship between Vietnam and Cambodia to flourish? In the future, what plans does the Embassy have to enhance people-to-people exchanges, especially to raise awareness among the younger generation about bilateral friendship?
People-to-people diplomacy has always been identified as a solid social foundation, a natural and enduring bond in the good neighborly relationship, traditional friendship, comprehensive cooperation, and long-term sustainability between Vietnam and Cambodia.
In recent times, both sides have conducted many activities to promote people-to-people exchanges, such as coordinating well in propaganda work, raising awareness among the people of the two countries about the traditional friendship, closeness, and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries; coordinating to organize and participate in cultural events such as Vietnam Culture Week in Cambodia (May 2026) and the 2nd World Culture Festival in Hanoi (October 1-4, 2026); promoting exchange activities between young parliamentarians, friendship associations, youth associations of the two countries, between research institutes...
Additionally, ministries, departments, and localities, especially border localities, and twinned units regularly organize activities to enhance exchanges and connections between governments, people, and businesses on both sides.
In the context of both countries entering a pivotal development phase and stepping into a new era of development, I particularly appreciate the important role of the younger generation, including youth, young intellectuals, and the next generation of officials, who are at the center of continuing the flow of Vietnam-Cambodia friendship. These are the people who will continue the mission of continuing the tradition and passing on historical memories, by cherishing, preserving, and writing new beautiful chapters of the bilateral relationship with a spirit of solidarity, sharing, understanding, and mutual respect.
Among them, the young officials - the next generation - are the core force directly coordinating, implementing, and concretizing the agreements and commitments between the high-level leaders of the two countries, ensuring that coordination between the two sides is always smooth, effective, and timely in the face of new challenges.
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| The opening ceremony of Vietnam Culture Week in Cambodia 2026, on May 26. (Source: Vietnamese Embassy in Cambodia) |
Moreover, thousands of Cambodian students studying in Vietnam and vice versa not only acquire professional knowledge to serve the construction of their country but also act as natural “friendship ambassadors,” closely connecting in language, culture, and people between the two countries. Additionally, the youth of both countries are the most agile force, leading in entrepreneurship, innovation, digital transformation, and green economic development, opening up new cooperation spaces beyond traditional frameworks, bringing the bilateral relationship in line with regional and global development trends.
In the coming time, people-to-people exchanges will continue to be one of the important areas contributing to strengthening the social foundation and enhancing the long-term bond between the two countries. To continue fostering awareness and vigorously promoting people-to-people exchanges, especially among the youth, the Vietnamese Embassy in Cambodia will focus on implementing several key directions and activities as follows:
Firstly, closely coordinate with the relevant agencies of both countries to innovate educational and propaganda methods about historical traditions targeting the youth, including enhancing the application of digital media platforms and social networks to spread historical stories, examples of solidarity, and cooperation achievements between the two countries in a relatable and lively manner, while organizing history and culture quizzes for the youth of both countries.
Secondly, coordinate with youth agencies of both countries to promote youth exchange programs, organize online and in-person youth forums, creating a platform for young people from both countries to openly exchange and share cooperation initiatives.
Thirdly, focus on connecting the network of students and alumni from both countries. In this, provide practical support for Vietnamese students studying in Cambodia, as well as build and promote the role of the Cambodian Alumni Association who studied in Vietnam - those who are and will hold important positions in Cambodian society - so that they continue to spread good feelings about the land and people of Vietnam.
Fourthly, enhance the connection between the younger generation and the business community by encouraging Vietnamese enterprises in Cambodia to offer scholarships, internships, and job opportunities for Cambodian youth and students; at the same time, create conditions for youth from both sides to participate in technology startup projects, e-commerce, and volunteer activities for the community in border areas.
The traditional friendship between Vietnam and Cambodia is an invaluable asset of both nations. With the faith, knowledge, and enthusiasm of youth, I deeply believe that the next generation of both countries will continue to strengthen this special relationship, making it increasingly robust and fruitful, for the peace, stability, and prosperous development of both nations.
Thank you very much, Ambassador!
