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Top leaders from Vietnam and Laos arrived in Phnom Penh on Friday for trilateral talks aimed at strengthening regional cooperation and long-standing ties.
The trip included the communist party chiefs of Vietnam and Laos, To Lam and Thongloun Sisoulith. They were received by Senate President and former longtime prime minister Hun Sen, who King Norodom Sihamoni asked to act as head of state due to illness. Thongloun Sisoulith is expected to stay for two days.
The Cambodian Foreign Ministry highlighted the visit with To Lam, reappointed last month as general secretary of the Vietnamese Communist Party for a five-year term, saying it was expected to “further strengthen warm relations” and promote “good-neighborliness, traditional friendship, comprehensive cooperation, and long-term stability” between the two countries.
The ministry said the Laotian leader’s visit would similarly reinforce “cordial friendship” and underscore “beneficial cooperation” for development and prosperity.
To Lam is scheduled to hold a summit meeting with Hun Sen before a trilateral session that also includes Thongloun Sisoulith, Hun Sen announced on his Facebook page.
Prime Minister Hun Manet, who succeeded his father Hun Sen in 2023 after nearly four decades in power, also attended a signing ceremony for a memorandum of understanding between the Cambodian People’s Party Commission for External Relations and Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he posted on Facebook, pictured alongside Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.
Both To Lam and Hun Sen are also set to preside over the Friday groundbreaking of a school in a southern district of Phnom Penh, funded with aid from Vietnam.
Chea Thyrith, a spokesperson for Hun Sen, declined to comment, saying he needed to attend a meeting.
Independent Cambodian geopolitical analyst Seng Vanly said on Facebook that the leaders’ visit represents a strategy to strengthen “ideological solidarity” and regional security.
“In my view, this event is not merely a routine diplomatic exchange, but a clear message about the creation of a ‘joint defense belt’ among the three countries at a time when regional geopolitics are changing and uncertain,” he said.
