PHNOM PENH: National Assembly President Khuon Sodary met with Turkish Ambassador to Cambodia, Ülkü Kocaefe as a gesture of women’s empowerment within their respective governments. The two delegates committed to help each other strengthen the roles of women within their respective regional and national administrations on September 18.

Following the meeting, Spokesperson for NA Chairwoman, Mr. Keo Piseth said that the women discussed strengthening ties and cooperation towards goals shared between Cambodia and Turkey. Both sides agreed that developing vocational education and digital education programs was key in providing women with more opportunities to elevate their careers.

 “Empowering women starts with empowering women officials in the National Assembly as well as MPs who can then provide programs to empower women's participation from the national level to the commune level to the grassroots level through education and in the provision of digital programming skills," said Keo Piseth.

The Turkish Ambassador said women are an integral part of society and informed the National Assembly about the rapid development of cooperation between the two countries recently, noting that the trade volume between Cambodia and Turkey has increased significantly. She also emphasized the importance of cultural exchange, to which end Turkey has opened a Turkish language training school in Cambodia, where about 60 young Cambodians are currently studying the language.

Cambodia and Turkey have enjoyed diplomatic relations since 1959. In recent years their cooperation was strengthened, expanded and promoted under the leadership of former Prime Minister Hun Sen and his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdoğan. Cambodia considers Turkey a valuable partner as it connects Asia to Europe.