Astana, 17 October. Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev held talks at the Akorda with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, the first Cambodian head of government to visit Kazakhstan, and proposed discussing direct air links between the two countries (Akorda, BES.media).
"I believe your visit is of historic significance, since Cambodian prime ministers have not visited Kazakhstan before," Tokayev said, recalling that his guest's father had visited Kazakhstan in 1982 (Akorda). Hun Manet proposed instructing ministries to identify areas for cooperation in energy and said Cambodian ministries were interested in Kazakhstan's experience with e-government (Akorda).
At the talks in an expanded format Tokayev said Kazakhstan regards Cambodia "as a reliable partner in South-East Asia and an important link in expanding our partnership with ASEAN countries", and noted the delegation's interest in artificial intelligence; the guest was due to visit the Alem.ai international centre the same day (Akorda, Akorda). Hun Manet said more than 120 Cambodian students had studied in Kazakhstan and many now serve as provincial governors, secretaries of state and ministry officials; Cambodia, he said, is also interested in cooperation in food security, agriculture and manufacturing (Akorda).
The leaders adopted a joint statement, and six documents were exchanged in their presence: two memoranda of Kazakhstan's Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development on telecommunications, digital government and GovTech, memoranda on trade and economic cooperation, on culture and the arts and on tourism, and a memorandum establishing sister-city ties between Astana and Phnom Penh (Akorda, BES.media). The trade memorandum was signed by Kazakhstan's Minister of Trade and Integration Arman Shakkaliyev and Cambodia's Minister of Commerce Cham Nimul; it covers trade and investment, small and medium-sized business, transport and logistics, agriculture, energy and digitalisation (Ministry of Trade and Integration).
Background: Kazakhstan and Cambodia established diplomatic relations in 1994; this year marks 32 years (Akorda, Не хабар). Tokayev also thanked Cambodia for supporting Kazakhstan's initiatives at the UN General Assembly and voiced support for Cambodia's long-term programmes Cambodia Vision 2050 and the Pentagonal Strategy (Akorda, Akorda). The published reports on the visit do not give the volume of bilateral trade.
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