During the occasion of a courtesy call paid to Samdech Moha Rathsapheathika Thipadei Khuon Sudary, President of the National Assembly of the Kingdom of Cambodia on 30 January 2024 at the National Assembly Palace, His Excellency Dr. Santo Darmosumarto, Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia to Cambodia, noted his endeavors to promote parliamentary cooperation between the Kingdom of Cambodia and the Republic of Indonesia in both bilateral and multilateral frameworks during his diplomatic term in Cambodia. In addition, he hopes to further enhance bilateral cooperation in priority areas of trade and people-to-people ties as well as education.

Samdech Rathsaphea Thipadei expressed her warm welcome to His Excellency Dr. Santo and ensured him that the Cambodian National Assembly stands ready to closely cooperate with the Indonesian Embassy to further strengthen and promote bilateral relations between the two countries, to achieve more comprehensive and meaningful ties. Samdech Rathsaphea Thipadei continued to emphasize that His Excellency’s mission to Cambodia is very crucial as this period of time marks both the 65th anniversary since the establishment of diplomatic relations between Cambodia and Indonesia and the formation of the Seventh Legislature of the Royal Government of Cambodia and the National Assembly, following the recent general elections in the Kingdom of Cambodia in July 2023. The 2023 general elections was a historic event which saw a voter turnout of 84% among all eligible registered voters, with the Cambodia People Party attaining more than 82% of such votes.

With this overwhelming support, Cambodia has recently witnessed and undergone a peaceful transfer of power, with more younger leaders taking the helm, ensuring peace and sustainable development. Samdech Rathsaphea Thipadei expressed her heartfelt thanks to Indonesia for their ongoing support to Cambodia since the recognition of Cambodia’s independence, including sending a peacekeeping force under the UN framework to help Cambodia achieve peace and development.

Samdech went on to note the important role of Indonesia in the regional sphere as well. Samdech Rathsaphea Thipadei Khuon Sudary and His Excellency Ambassador agreed on the significance of their bilateral relations and emphasized that Cambodia and Indonesia still have more potential for enhancing and expanding cooperation in the areas of diplomacy, trade, education, agriculture, tourism and especially its people-to-people contact which will bring mutual benefit for both countries.

It is interesting to note that Indonesia is ranked 6th among the foreign investors in Cambodia. The bilateral trade reached 948 million US Dollars in 2022. In the first four month of 2023, the trade between the two countries stood at 392 million US Dollars. Indonesia is a market that imports rice from Cambodia. In this regard, Samdech encouraged and proposed His Excellency Ambassador to consider importing more agricultural products from Cambodia. In February of this year, Indonesia will hold the National Election to elect parliamentarian for the new term. After the formation of the new parliament, His Excellency Santo promised to promote parliamentary cooperation under both bilateral and multilateral framework as well cooperation to address gender-related issues.