PHNOM PENH - Cambodia and Thailand on Wednesday vowed to further enhance bilateral relations and cooperation in all areas for mutual benefit.
The commitment was made during a meeting in Phnom Penh between Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and visiting Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra.
Speaking at a joint press briefing after their talks, Hun Manet said both sides agreed to further boost cooperation in trade, investment, tourism, connectivity, labor, education, infrastructure, culture, security, and combating cross-border crime and online scams.
He said Thailand is an important trading partner and a key investor of Cambodia, expressing his thanks to Thai businesspeople for their confidence and investment in Cambodia.
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"For culture, I would like to thank Thailand for returning 20 ancient statues to Cambodia," he said, adding that those antiquities had been confiscated from traffickers.
Hun Manet reiterated that Cambodia is committed to building a borderline of peace, stability, cooperation, and prosperity with Thailand.
For her part, Paetongtarn said both sides agreed to further deepen economic cooperation, aiming to increase bilateral trade volume to $15 billion in 2027 from $10 billion last year.
She said Thailand is currently the ninth-largest source of foreign direct investment in Cambodia.
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Paetongtarn said the two countries agreed to further promote security cooperation in order to maintain peace and stability along the borderline of the two countries.
She also lauded police cooperation between Thailand and Cambodia in the fight against online scams, and vowed to continue working together to eliminate the crime from Thailand-Cambodia border areas.
At the end of their talks, the two prime ministers witnessed the signing of seven agreements and memorandums of understanding, focusing on trans-boundary environment cooperation, labor cooperation, skilled labor development, and border bridge and road projects, among others.
Paetongtarn arrived in Phnom Penh on Wednesday morning for a two-day official visit.
