Cambodian top legislator hails good ties with France

(Christian Connan  and Heng Samrin)

By Lu Hui

PHNOM PENH, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- President of Cambodia's National Assembly Heng Samrin on Monday hailed good relations between Cambodia and France in all rounds and pledged to continue fostering the ties for the two countries' mutual benefits.

"France is having an important role in Cambodia in diplomatic relations, economic ties, culture, education, health and military fields," he said at a meeting with outgoing ambassador of France to Cambodia Christian Connan.

He expressed gratitude to France for its promise to support Cambodia's candidacy for a non-permanent seat of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in 2013-2014 term.

On the economic side, a lot of French companies have been operating in Cambodia in the fields of construction, real estate, oil and gas exploration, airports, hotels, small and medium enterprises, transports, IT and electronics.

According to the statistics released from the Embassy of France in Phnom Penh, since 2004 until last year, France's direct investment in Cambodia was about 668 million U.S. dollars.

Two-way trade in 2011 reached 138 million U.S. dollars, according to a report of Cambodian Ministry of Commerce.

Meanwhile, Christian Connan said that even though his diplomatic mission in Cambodia will end soon, he would continue to encourage French investors to Cambodia, especially in tourism industry.