Phnom Penh (FN) July 5 – Russia and Cambodia are galvanizing bilateral cooperation in all areas and actively participating on the global stage, including in the fight against terrorism and cyber threats, Russian Ambassador to Cambodia Dmitry Tsvetkov said in an interview with TASS on Wednesday.
"Russia and Cambodia are executing a common approach to the solution of most issues on the international agenda, acting in accordance with the principles of non-intervention in the domestic affairs of sovereign states, non-acceptance of double standards in international communication and unacceptability of the overthrow of legal governments through ‘color revolutions’ that is imposed from outside," the diplomat highlighted.
Moscow and Phnom Penh are currently discussing areas of cooperation in these spheres "with regard to new conditions and international reality." "During the visit of the Cambodian military delegation headed by Lieutenant General Hun Manet, commander of the Royal Cambodian Army and head of the national anti-terrorism center, to Russia that took place in March, the sides discussed their positions on all major issues on the agenda of cooperation between Russia and Cambodia in the spheres of defense and security. The consultations focused on the fight against terrorism and response to traditional and new challenges to security, including cyber terrorism," the Russian ambassador said.
Economic cooperation
Ambassador Tsvetkov noted that the trade turnover between Russia and Cambodia in 2018 increased by 21.5% as compared to the previous year, exceeding $202 million. "A growing number of Russian companies are interested in entry to the rapidly developing Cambodian market; that said, local enterprises are ready to increase their exports to Russia," he highlighted. "Along with the extension of the volume and the diversification of the nomenclature of mutual trade, the galvanization of the growth of investment activity, in which Russia and Cambodia are equally interested, remains an important task."
Consolidation of the legal framework of bilateral cooperation
The Russian envoy pointed out that the last period of cooperation between Moscow and Phnom Penh is marked by considerable consolidation of bilateral contractual legal framework. In 2005-2014, 17 Russian-Cambodian agreements were signed, whereas over the last five years the sides inked 45 bilateral documents that cover almost all spheres of cooperation between the two states. "Among the documents signed in the recent years are agreements and memorandums that regulate cooperation in the sphere of air communication, the fight against money laundering, support for investments, development of partner ties in health protection, culture, sports and mass media and the consolidation of cooperation at the inter-parliamentary level," Tsvetkov reported.
Cooperation between the civic societies
The envoy said that Russia and Cambodia are gradually galvanizing and extending ties between their civic societies. "We can see that the interest in our country, cooperation with Russia and the study of the Russian language, which we fully support, re-appeared in Cambodia and is daily growing. In particular, we continue to extend the scholarship program for Cambodia students, supporting contacts between people and, thus, reviving our traditions of friendship," the diplomat said. The establishment of direct ties and the signing of the memorandum on mutual understanding between the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) and Cambodia’s National Institute of Diplomacy and International Relations are among the latest remarkable achievements in this regard.
The cooperation between the civic societies plays a major role in preserving the historic truth about the Russian-Cambodian ties, contributing to the further development of traditional warm relations between the peoples of the two states, Tsvetkov said. "We have to extend student exchanges and humanitarian and cultural ties, thanks to which the modern and future generations of Russians and Cambodians will be able to better understand each other and relations between our states will become stronger," the ambassador concluded.
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