Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on March 14 called on Vietnam to help Cambodia complete a national cyber information safety monitoring centre in 2019, saying it is very essential to the country. 

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen (R) and Vietnamese Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung

PM Hun Sen made the proposal at a reception in Phnom Penh for Vietnamese Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung, who has been on a visit to Cambodia from March 13-16.

Hung said the 5 million USD centre is a gift presented to Cambodia by Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

During the meeting, the two sides discussed cyber security and the fight against fake news. 

Hung briefed the Cambodian leader on the contents of his ministry’s cooperation with Cambodia’s Ministries of Information, and Posts and Telecommunications.

He voiced his hope that the PM will maintain support for Vietnamese technology and telecom enterprises which are investing in the country such as military-run telecom group Viettel, Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) and FPT Corporation.

The minister also proposed Cambodia to create favourable conditions for other Vietnamese enterprises to participate in projects regarding IT application in state and government agencies, as well as e-Government, smart city and infrastructure upgrade, and provision of new services to better meet Cambodians’ demand for information exchanges.

During his four-day visit to Cambodia, Minister Hung and Cambodia’s Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith signed a cooperation plan and an action programme between the two ministries in 2019.

Minister Hung told Minister Khieu Kanharith during their talks on March 14 that his visit aims to realise agreements signed between the two countries after the visit to Cambodia by Party General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong on March 25-26.

Minister Khieu Kanharith thanked the special support of Vietnamese media including the Vietnam News Agency (VNA), Voice of Vietnam (VOV), and Vietnam Television (VTV) for disseminating the significant meaning of the 40th anniversary of victory over the Pol Pot genocidal regime (January 7, 1979).

He said major Vietnamese communication agencies not only help Cambodia with equipment but also human resources training.

Regarding cooperation between the two ministries, Hung wanted the Cambodian ministry to participate in researching and building an e-newspaper legal deposit centre in the two countries as it is a necessary tool to manage electronic newspaper and online information.

He showed his continued support for the use of the Vietnamese Government’s ODA for projects to expand networks and increase the capacity of Cambodia’s national televisions and radios, and train skills and professional competence for its reporters.

He also pledged to coordinate with the Cambodian ministry to hold training courses to help prevent cybercrime as well as the spread of inaccurate information.

The Vietnamese side suggested Cambodia increase the timing of the Vietnamese language radiobroadcasting proramme from 15 minutes to 30 minutes a day in Phnom Penh and six Cambodian provinces which accommodate a large number of Vietnamese. 

Vietnam also urged Cambodia to help air VOV programmes in the Khmer language in Siem Reap and Tonle Sap Lake for at least three hours per day. 

The two ministries agreed to further instruct Vietnamese and Cambodian media agencies increase news stories on socio-economic situation, land and people of the two countries in order to intensify mutual understanding, solidarity and friendship between their people. 

Minister Hung thanked the Cambodian Ministry of Information for its close and effective cooperation in supporting and creating conditions for Vietnamese reporters to fulfill their tasks in Cambodia.-VNA