Hun Sen and Kishida Fumio hold talks, both sides are concerned about the situation in North Korea, Russia, Ukraine and Myanmar

亚洲联合时报 2022-10-11 22:48

On September 27, the state funeral ceremony of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was held in Tokyo, and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen attended the memorial service.

According to foreign media reports, delegations from more than 210 countries, regions and international institutions attended Abe's state funeral, with a total of about 4,300 participants.

On the morning of September 28, Hun Sen held talks with the current Prime Minister of Japan, Fumio Kishida.

During the talks, Fumio Kishida said that Japan attaches great importance to and is willing to strengthen bilateral relations with Cambodia for the benefit of the two peoples. Japan hopes that Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, the rotating chairman of ASEAN in 2022, will continue to support Japan within the framework of ASEAN and Japan.

Cambodian Assistant Prime Minister Ko Kim Hwan revealed the details of the talks. He said that Hun Sen officially invited Kishida Fumio to attend the ASEAN-Japan Summit and ASEAN Leaders Summit to be held in Phnom Penh in November.

Hun Sen also praised Fumio Kishida's speech at the 77th United Nations General Assembly. In his speech, Fumio Kishida praised Cambodia's contribution to world peace. Under the framework of the United Nations, Cambodia actively participates in peacekeeping operations.

During this meeting, Fumio Kishida said that he will visit Cambodia in November to further strengthen cooperation between Japan and Cambodia.

Fumio Kishida also focused on strengthening economic cooperation between Japan and Cambodia, especially the fact that Japan will set up a Toyota assembly plant in Cambodia. He asked the Cambodian government to support Japanese companies investing in Cambodia.

It is reported that the Cambodia Development Council (CDC) announced on September 8 that it has approved the Toyota car assembly plant project. This car assembly plant is located in the Phnom Penh Royal Group Special Economic Zone (formerly Phnom Penh Special Economic Zone). The investment of the assembly plant project is about 36.7 million US dollars, and after it is completed and put into production, it will be able to meet the needs of the Cambodian automobile market.

As of August 2022, the Cambodian Development Council has approved a total of 149 projects of Japanese-funded enterprises, with a total investment of 2.9 billion US dollars.

In addition, Hun Sen and Kishida also exchanged views on international issues such as the situation on the Korean Peninsula, the situation in Myanmar, the situation in the South China Sea, and the Russian-Ukrainian war.

▲ The situation in Myanmar.

Regarding the Myanmar issue, Fumio Kishida expressed his gratitude to Hun Sen for all his efforts as the rotating chairman of ASEAN. Although the situation in Myanmar is worrying, Japan continues to support all efforts of ASEAN.

Regarding the Korean Peninsula issue, Fumio Kishida said that the North Korean nuclear threat and the abduction of Japanese people are issues of common concern to Japan and the international community.

In response, Hun Sen responded and reiterated: "We will continue to work within the ASEAN framework to resolve the Myanmar issue, and despite the challenges, we will not give up."

In addition, it is worth mentioning that before attending Abe's state funeral, Hun Sen had a "working breakfast" with Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc, who also attended the event. The two sides held brief talks on resolving the border issue between the two countries.