Hanoi (VNA) – Visiting President of the Republic of Korea (RoK) Moon Jae-inmet with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on March 15 to discuss measures tointensify the friendship and cooperation between the two countries.

Thetwo sides acknowledged the progress in the bilateral trade which rose to 970million USD in 2018 from 54 million USD in 1997.

Theyagreed to boost cooperation in the fields of agriculture, infrastructureconstruction, processing and finance.

Theoperation of over 200 Korean enterprises in Cambodia plays a crucial role inpromoting the goal of common growth, they noted.

Thetwo countries will step up the negotiations on the double taxation avoidanceagreement while increasing support and encouraging Korean businesses to investin Cambodia.

Thetwo leaders agreed to push ahead with cooperation in agriculture with thelaunch of a agricultural product distribution centre, the first quarantinefacility in Cambodia in February, which involves investment of the twocountries’ businesses.

Regardingfinance, the RoK will support Cambodia to build a national payment system in2019 and infrastructure, making it easier for Korean financial companies tohead to the market.

PresidentMoon Jae-in pledged to expand support for Cambodia, the second biggestdevelopment partner of the RoK in the Association of Southeast Asian Nationsafter Vietnam.

Forhis part, Prime Minister Hun Sen expressed his support for the RoK’s NewSouthern Policy and peace roadmap on the Korean Peninsula.

Thetwo leaders agreed to closely work together to host successfully the ASEAN-RoKspecial summit and the Mekong-RoK summit scheduled for the end of thisyear.-VNA