PHNOM PENH, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia and Vietnam on Thursday signed five cooperation documents, aiming at enhancing their bilateral ties and cooperation, according to an announcement at the signing ceremony here.
The deals were inked by government officials of the two countries at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh under the presence of Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen and visiting General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong.
The documents included a joint statement on strengthening friendship and cooperation, a framework agreement on economic connectivity, a protocol on disaster rescue activity along the border, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the development of a power plant, and a MoU on human resources development in telecommunications sector.
Prior to the signing ceremony, Hun Sen held a 90-minute talk with Nguyen Phu Trong, and both sides vowed to further enhance bilateral ties and cooperation for mutual benefits, Eang Sophalleth, an assistant to Hun Sen, told reporters after the meeting.
"Both sides agreed to boost the bilateral trade volume to 5 billion U.S. dollars by 2025," he said. The trade volume between the two neighboring countries was valued at 2.92 billion U.S. dollars in 2016.
According to the assistant, during the meeting, Nguyen Phu Trong told Hun Sen that Vietnam decided to give 25 million U.S. dollars in grant aid to Cambodia for the construction of a building for the General Secretariat of the National Assembly.
Nguyen Phu Trong arrived in Phnom Penh on Thursday morning for a three-day state visit at the invitation of Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni.
