Friday, February 8th, 2013
Vice President Jejomar Binay. FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—Vice President Jejomar Binay on Friday
reiterated the Philippines resolve to strengthen economic ties with
Cambodia, noting that officials from the country expressed great
interest in signing agreements for cooperation.
Binay issued the statement after he arrived from a visit to Phnom
Penh, where he represented President Benigno Aquino III in the state
funeral and cremation of the country’s former king and head of state of
Norodom Sihanouk.
Sihanouk, 89, died of heart attack in a hospital in Beijing.
Cambodia had earlier scheduled an official mourning period for Sihanouk
on February 1 – 7.
In his statement, Binay noted that he had a meeting with
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, during which he conveyed the
Philippines’ condolences on the death of the king.
“I also conveyed to His Excellency the great interest of the
Philippine government to expand and strengthen bilateral cooperation and
exchange, particularly the signing of agreements on combating
transnational crimes, rice trading, and cooperation in culture and
tourism,” Binay said.
“I assured the prime minister of our strong and firm support for
efforts to build closer relations between our countries and our
peoples,” he added.
Binay said that Hun Sen has welcomed the signing of the
agreements, and also expressed keen interest in the possibility of
direct flights between Manila and Phnom Penh.
Binay also said that he held separate meetings with Deputy Prime
Minister and minister in charge of the Council of Ministers Sok An and
the governor of Phnom Penh Kep Chuktema.
“We discussed cooperation and exchange between the Boy Scouts of
the Philippines and the Cambodia Scouts, specifically preparations for a
Scout Camp and organizing a regional jamboree in Siem Reap,” he said
adding that plans to establish closer cooperation between the sister
cities of Phnom Penh and Makati were also tackled.
Binay, also the presidential adviser on overseas Filipino workers
concerns, shared that he met with Filipino communities in Cambodia and
assured them that their problems, including issues as the processing of
their Philippine Overseas Employment Administration documentation and
the impact of a weaker dollar on their remittances, would be addressed
by the Philippine government.
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