On the afternoon of May 6, 2021, at the headquarters of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Mr Nguyen Hong Dien - Minister of Industry and Trade received and worked with Mr. Chay Navuth, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Cambodia to Vietnam, to exchange and unify measures to strengthen cooperation in the fields of trade, industry and energy between Vietnam and Cambodia.

Attending the meeting, on the side of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam, were the participation of Deputy Minister Tran Quoc Khanh and the representatives of leaders from the units: Asia-Africa Market Department, Administration of the Ministry, Department of Oil and Gas, Oil and Coal, Multilateral Trade Policy Department, Domestic Market Department, Vietnam Directorate of Market Surveillance, Import-Export Department, Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency, Electricity Regulatory Authority of Vietnam, Vietnam competition and consumer authority.

Speaking at the meeting, Mr. Nguyen Hong Dien Minister of Industry and Trade showed high appreciation to the good and contant relationship that had developed through the motto of "good neighbourliness, traditional friendship, comprehensive cooperation, long-term sustainability"  between Vietnam and Cambodia. In that spirit, right after receiving his assignment at the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien had arranged to meet and work with the Cambodian Ambassador to further develop the cooperation relationship between the two countries in the fields of industry, commerce and energy.

Minister Nguyen Hong Dien had shared the difficulties that the Government and people of Cambodia are facing due to the complex developments of the Covid-19 pandemic. He also stated his believe that with the good leadership of the Cambodian Government and the people's commitment to deal with the prevention and control measures of this pandemic, Cambodia will be able to emerge victorious and bring life back to normal as before and achieve economic recovery.

In joining hands and supporting Cambodia in the fight against Covid-19, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien had arranged and donated 10,000 antibacterial cloth masks to the Cambodian Embassy in Vietnam, and also partnered with Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry, Science, Technology and Innovation, and Ministry of Mines and Energy to each pledge and allocate 10,000 medical masks to the Cambodian Embassy, to further aid in Cambodia’s pandemic prevention.

Minister Nguyen and The Cambodia Ambassador had also spent most of the working session discussing measures to further strengthen bilateral cooperation in the fields of trade, industry and energy.

The two sides also highly appreciated the strong development of trade relations between the two countries. In the period 2010-2019, bilateral trade turnover achieved an average growth rate of about 18%/year. In 2020, trade turnover had increased nearly 3 times compared to 2010.  The Vietnam–Cambodia’s trade turnover had reached 5.2 billion USD which had exceeded the target, of 5 billion USD, set by senior leaders of the two countries in 2020. In the first 3 months of 2021, trade turnover reached 2.69 billion USD, up 103.68% over the same period in 2020. Noting these positive results, the two sides believes that with the close coordination of ,Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade, together with the other ministries and branches of Cambodia and the Cambodian Embassy in Vietnam, the two countries' trade turnover will continue to grow stronger.

At the end of the meeting, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien summarized the contents agreed by the two sides and assigned specific tasks to the units of the Ministry of Industry and Trade to coordinate with the Cambodian side to actively implement. The Minister affirmed that the Ministry of Industry and Trade is always ready to coordinate and support Cambodian agencies and embassies in Vietnam to promote Vietnam-Cambodia cooperation, to achieve additional positive results in due time.