On 21 September 2023, His Excellency Chum Sounry, Secretary of State of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of International Cooperation, received a courtesy call by Mr. David Verbiwski, Chargé d’ Affaires of the Office of the Embassy of Canada in Phnom Penh.
Both sides noted with satisfaction of the good relations between Cambodia and Canada and discussed the ways to further enhance the bilateral cooperation on various fields, including demining, peace-keeping operation, education, trade and tourism.  

The Secretary of State recalled the bilateral meeting between Samdech Techo Hun Sen, then Prime Minister of Cambodia, and The Hon. Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, during which both leaders touched on Canada’s assistance to Cambodia’s mine clearing. He renewed Cambodia’s call for Canada’s contribution in helping the country achieve the “Mine-Free Cambodia 2025” goal.

The two sides shared the views on expediting the process of setting up the bilateral consultations between the two foreign ministries to serve as a good venue to explore areas of cooperation for the two countries’ common interests.  

In the ASEAN framework, while evaluating Canada’s active engagement, H.E. Secretary of State extended his sincere congratulations upon the elevation of ASEAN-Canada relations to Strategic Partnership, which was officially launched in September this year. Mr. David Verbiwski highly appreciated Cambodia’s strong support in this process. The Secretary of State and the Chargé d’ Affaires shared the pleasure for the progress in the ASEAN-Canada Free Trade Agreement negotiations.