Joint Press Briefing; Unofficial Translation
Excellency Prime Minister Boyko Borisson,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Let me thank Prime Minister of Bulgaria for extending a warm welcome to the Cambodian delegation on its official visit to the country. This is my fifth time visiting Bulgaria after the first four visits in the 1980s. Since then the two countries had gone through internal political changes on their own. However, as old friends, we always call on each other. The Cambodian-Bulgarian relation has a history of over 60 years already and Cambodia thanks Bulgaria for providing it with assistance at the time when Cambodia was in its hardest time after the fall of the Khmer Rouge genocidal regime.
HE Prime Minister and I met in New York last year at the headquarters of the United Nations. Today, we have had a chance to meet and talk frankly on existing bilateral relations. I think that my visit this time will generate fruitful results and serve as a roadmap for efforts towards strengthening bilateral relations between our two countries.
Taking this opportune moment, on behalf of the Cambodian people who survived deaths (under the Khmer Rouge regime of the genocide), I thank the government and people of Bulgaria for provision of assistance to Cambodia in the past. We are expressing again today our condolences over the death of three Bulgarian soldiers who died in their peacekeeping operation in Cambodia in 1990s.
In the course of our discussion, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and I have covered important issues focusing on bilateral relations, mainly making further efforts to promote cooperation and relations in economics, trade, investments, education, etc. In between 1980 and 1989, there had been some two hundred Cambodians coming and studied in Bulgaria. A while ago, I have proposed to Prime Minister Borissov to continue to provide scholarship for Cambodian students. I thank HE Prime Minister very much for his positive response on my request for assistance on human resource training for Cambodia.
We have discussed possibility of establishing mechanisms necessary for promotion of relations between the two countries and you may have seen that we have just signed a number of documents. In the time to come, concerned ministers and officials will continue working together to realize what we have already agreed upon and to widen our relations further.
We discussed aspects in the relations between ASEAN and Europe. As Cambodia is going to host the Asia Europe Meeting in 2020, I have extended invitation to HE Prime Minister to attend the meeting, and to conduct a visit to Cambodia at an appropriate time.
Once again, I thank HE Prime Minister, (the government and people of Bulgaria) for such a wonderful hospitality and a frank discussion while treating one another as long-timer partners, old friends, and adding new force to our two countries’ cooperation./.
