India, Cambodia relations yet to reach their potential: Om Birla

Phnom Penh, April 22 (IANS) The relations between India and Cambodia, especially in trade, are yet to reach their full potential, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said on Friday.

As an Indian parliamentary delegation led by him arrived in the Cambodian capital, Birla said that trade and economic cooperation between the two countries is based on India's 'Act East' policy, India-ASEAN cooperation framework, India-CLMWB cooperation and Mekong-Ganga Cooperation.

He highlighted that the aim of this visit to Cambodia is to further enhance parliamentary cooperation between the two countries.

Mentioning that 2022 is special for both countries as they celebrate 70 years of diplomatic relations, Birla observed that during this time, India has always extended its support and cooperation to Cambodia in its challenging circumstances.

Underlining that India was the first democratic country to recognise Cambodia after Khmer Rouge's rule, which reflects the close bonding between the two countries, he expressed satisfaction that, at present, Cambodia is an important partner in India's 'Act East' policy and economic partnership with ASEAN.

Underlining that trade relations between India and Cambodia are yet to reach to their potential, he stressed the need for increasing bilateral trade, while new areas of cooperation need to be explored and tapped and suggested that there should be a continuous dialogue between the trade associations of the two countries.

In this regard, he expressed the view that both the countries should make continuous efforts to promote trade, investment, tourism, development projects etc., which will help in further strengthening and taking the bilateral economic ties to a higher level.