PHNOM PENH: Prime Minister Hun Manet headed to Vietnam Monday morning on his first official visit as the head of government.

According to the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the two-day visit comes at the invitation of Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh. Accompanying the PM on his visit are Deputy Prime Minister Sun Chanthol, First Vice President of the Council for the Development of Cambodia, Deputy Prime Minister Sok Chenda Sophea, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and other key government officials, leaders and private sector representatives from the Cambodian Chamber of Commerce.

The PM will hold a bilateral meeting with his Vietnamese counterpart, Pham Minh Chinh to discuss cooperation in education, trade, investment, connectivity, tourism, culture, security, defense and border affairs, and more. The two Prime Ministers will oversee the signing of several agreements, and co- preside over the Cambodia-Vietnam Trade and Investment Promotion Forum.

Prime Minister Hun Manet will also pay separate visits to the head of Vietnam’s Communist Party, Nguyen Phu Trong, Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong, and National Assembly President Vuong Dinh Hue. He will also receive courtesy calls from Nguyen Thi Thanh, Chairwoman of the Cambodia-Vietnam Friendship Association, and leaders of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union. The PM will also deliver a keynote address at the Foreign Trade University in Hanoi on the Cambodian government’s development policy and the economic relations between Cambodia and Vietnam.

The Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs says that the visit signifies the deepening of long-term relations based on the spirit of "Good neighborliness, traditional friendship, comprehensive cooperation and long-term stability between Cambodia and Vietnam for the mutual benefit of the people of the two nations."