Heng Samrin meets Australian parliamentary speaker
National Assembly President Heng Samrin (fifth from left) meets with Australia’s House of Representatives Speaker Tony Smith (third from right) in Canberra on Tuesday
- Thmey Thmey
- January 14, 2020 7:55 AM
National Assembly president seeks support with investment, tourism and capacity building in Cambodia and scholarships for students to study in Australia
PHNOM PENH - National Assembly President Heng Samrin held bilateral talks in Canberra Tuesday with Australian House of Representatives Speaker Tony Smith.
The bilateral talks took place on the sidelines of a three-day meeting of the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum that opened in the Australian capital on Monday.
'An important development partner in almost every sector'
According to his Facebook page, Heng Samrin thanked Australia and its people for their major contribution to peace, reconstruction and development in Cambodia.
“Today, Australia is an important development partner in almost every sector,” he said.
The National Assembly president welcomed further support from Australia including investment, tourism, capacity building and more scholarships for Cambodian students.
Invitation to pay official visit to Cambodia
Heng Samrin also invited the Australian speaker to pay an official visit to Cambodia to coincide with the Asia-Europe Parliamentary Partnership meeting that he is chairing in October.
Smith accepted the invitation and said he was happy with the ties of cooperation between the two countries.
Heng Samrin chaired the 27th APPF meeting in Siem Reap last year and spoke about the outcomes at the opening session of the meeting in Canberra on Monday.
Twenty of the forum’s 27 members are taking part in the Canberra meeting — Australia, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, Fiji, Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Laos, Malaysia, the Marshall Islands, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
A further nine countries are taking part as observers — Brunei, Kiribati, Nauru, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Niue, Palau and Tuvalu.
