PHNOM PENH: National Assembly President Khuon Sodary promoted the relationship between the National Assemblies of Cambodia and Azerbaijan, both of which are now led by women who have agreed to enhance cooperation.

On September 15, Azerbaijani Ambassador Shovgi Mechdizade paid a visit to Khuon Sodary to congratulate her as the first female president of the National Assembly and to express hope that the relations between the two countries’ parliaments will strengthen. The ambassador also expressed his intention to promote a rapport between the businesswomen from his country and those of Cambodia so that they could connect with and learn from each other.

Khuon Sodary welcomed the opportunity to further promote women’s empowerment and requested that Azerbaijan’s government and parliament continue to help train human resources in Cambodia, both in the legislative and executive branches, so that her National Assembly can modernize the institution under the mandate of the government’s economic strategy to raise the income status of Cambodia overall. She noted that Azerbaijan has played an important role in training Cambodian human resources since the Soviet era.

Former PM Hun Sen visited Azerbaijan in 2014, and in 2022, Azerbaijan’s National Assembly President Sahiba Gafarova, visited Cambodia to attend the 43rd ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) as an observer at the Cambodian parliament. During her visit, the two countries' parliaments signed a Memorandum of Understanding to enhance bilateral and multilateral parliamentary cooperation.