Japan-Cambodia Summit Meeting (Summary)

On December 18, commencing at 1:40 p.m. for approximately 30 minutes, Mr. KISHIDA Fumio, Prime Minister of Japan, held a Summit Meeting with Samdech Moha Borvor Thipadei HUN Manet, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia, who was visiting Japan to attend the Commemorative Summit for the 50th Year of ASEAN-Japan Friendship and Cooperation. The meeting was followed by a ceremony for the presentation of a Cambodian coin commemorating the 70th anniversary of Japan-Cambodia friendship and exchanges of notes in the presence of the two leaders. The summary of the meeting and the ceremony is as follows.
 
The meeting was attended from the Japanese side by Minister for Foreign Affairs KAMIKAWA Yoko, Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications MATSUMOTO Takeaki, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry SAITO Ken, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary MORIYA Hiroshi and others, and from the Cambodian side by Deputy Prime Minister Sun Chanthol, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Sok Chenda Sophea, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Youth and Sports Hang Chuon Naron, Governor of the National Bank of Cambodia Chea Serey, Minister of Commerce Cham Nimul, Minister of Mines and Energy Keo Rattanak, Minister of Posts and Telecommunications Chea Vandeth and others.
 
1. Japan-Cambodia Summit Meeting
(1) Introduction
Prime Minister Kishida welcomed Prime Minister Hun Manet’s first visit to Japan as prime minister and appreciated his attendance at the Commemorative Summit for the 50th Year of ASEAN-Japan Friendship and Cooperation and the Asia Zero Emission Community (AZEC) Leaders Meeting. Prime Minister Kishida expressed his desire to strengthen cooperation with ASEAN, including Laos, to maintain and strengthen a free and open international order based on the rule of law and to ensure a world where human dignity is protected. Prime Minister Kishida stated that in recent year, cooperation between the two countries has expanded to broader areas, such as the cooperation to assist countermeasures against land mines in third countries like Ukraine, and welcomed the exchanges of notes on the same day between the two countries’ relevant Cabinet ministers and private companies regarding cooperation projects in the digital and energy areas. Prime Minister Kishida also expressed his desire to work with Prime Minister Hun Manet for the further development of the two countries.
 
In response, Prime Minister Hun Manet appreciated the hospitality extended by Prime Minister Kishida and the Japanese side during his visit, and congratulated the success of the ASEAN-Japan Commemorative Summit and the AZEC Leaders Meeting. In addition, Prime Minister Hun Manet stated that cooperative relationship between the two countries is further expanding and expressed his desire to work with Prime Minister Kishida for the mutual interests of the two countries and their peoples, as well as the peace and stability of the region and the international community.
 
(2) Bilateral relations
a) Prime Minister Kishida expressed his desire to strengthen the relationship on the security front through people-to-people exchanges and unit-to-unit exchanges such as port calls. In response, Prime Minister Hun Manet welcomed the progress in cooperation on the security front and the two leaders agreed that they will establish Defence Senior Official’s Talks in addition to the Foreign Senior Official’s Talks whose first meeting was held in November, and strengthen cooperation on the security front.
 
b) In the digital area, the two leaders agreed on the list of cooperation items in the digital area that Japan proposed to the Cambodian side as the Co-Creation for Common Agenda Initiative, which was newly introduced in the Development Cooperation Charter approved by the Cabinet in June this year. In addition, in the energy area, the two leaders agreed that they will continue to strengthen cooperation according to what was agreed upon in the AZEC Leaders Meeting.
Furthermore, Prime Minister Kishida stated that based on the Japan-ASEAN Comprehensive Connectivity Initiative, Japan will promote stronger connectivity and cooperate in the health area in contributing to the provision of advanced medical care at regional core hospitals. In response, Prime Minister Hun Manet expressed his gratitude for the support provided by the Government and people of Japan to date in the peace, reconstruction and development of Cambodia and his hope for continued support and investment from Japan for future economic development of Cambodia.
 
c) Prime Minister Kishida stated that Japan continues to attach importance of the democratic development of Cambodia, and that in February next year, Japan will conduct the 6th invitation program for young Cambodians involved politics from both the ruling and opposition parties. The two leaders agreed to cooperate in that area.
 
(3) Regional and international affairs
Prime Minister Kishida expressed his strong condemnation of the North Korea’s ballistic missile launch last night and again this morning, which is not only a clear violation of relevant UN Security Council Resolutions, but also a threat to regional peace and stability. The two leaders agreed to continue working together to achieve the complete, verifiable, and irreversible destruction (CVID) of all North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles of all ranges.
 
The two leaders agreed to work together in dealing the various issues in the region and international community: the situation in East Asia, such as North Korea including the issue of its nuclear and missile programs and the abduction issue; the situation in Myanmar; Russia’s aggression against Ukraine; and the situation surrounding Israel and Palestine.
 
2. Ceremony for the presentation of a coin commemorating the 70th anniversary of Japan-Cambodia friendship and signing of documents
Prime Minister Kishida presented Prime Minister Hun Manet with a “70th Anniversary of Friendship between Cambodia and Japan” Commemorative 5,000 Riels Silver Coin struck by the Japan Mint based on an order from the National Bank of Cambodia.
The presentation was followed by exchanges of the following cooperation documents between the two countries in the presence of the two leaders.
 
(1) Exchange of notes regarding the Project for the Development of National Data Center towards Promoting E-Government
(2) Exchange of notes regarding the Project for the Construction of a Hydrographic Survey Vessel for Preparing Electronic Navigational Chart
(3) Exchange of notes regarding the Project for the Development of Digital Management System of Water Supply Facilities in the Metropolitan Area
(4) Joint minutes between the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan and the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications of Cambodia on cooperation for development of the digital economy and society in Cambodia
(5) Memorandum of Cooperation between the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan and the National Bank of Cambodia on cooperation in the area of Unified QR Code-based Payment
(6) Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Mines and Energy of Cambodia and Minebea Mitsumi Co., Ltd. and SchneiTec Co., Ltd. on Cooperation in Solar Power Project
(7) Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Mines and Energy of Cambodia and erex Co., Ltd. and SPHP(Cambodia)Co., Ltd. on Cooperation in Biomass Project