KANDAL: Prime Minister Hun Sen has announced that he will travel to the United States in February 2022 to co-chair the ASEAN-US Summit with President Joe Biden, since Cambodia is chairing ASEAN in 2022.

The Prime Minister made this announcement in his speech on Thursday morning, following the official inspection of the new Techo International Airport in Takhmao City, Kandal Province, which is currently more than 20% complete. He said, "if President Biden wants to have an ASEAN-US meeting in the United States, we have already prepared for the flights to attend."

Prime Minister Hun Sen also spoke about the recent sanctions imposed by the United States on three senior government officials, which he said he considers to be just a political threat, because the Cambodian officials involved do not have any money or property held in the United States. He continued that he urges the United States to sanction any Cambodian officials who have properties in the country, as this causes Cambodians to invest in their own country instead.

However, the Prime Minister warned the United States to be careful about how they punish Cambodians because some are citizens of the United States as well. He stated that any punishment imposed by the United States could be a punishment of their own citizens, since many Cambodians hold foreign citizenship. As a result, the Prime Minister concluded that the latest sanctions meant to punish the Cambodian people are useless.