Cambodia Calls for Faster Cross-Border Infrastructure Links With Laos and Vietnam
Cambodia Calls for Faster Cross-Border Infrastructure Links With Laos and Vietnam
CEBU, May 8, 2026 — The leaders of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam agreed on Friday to further strengthen cooperation across political, economic, security and infrastructure sectors during a trilateral meeting held on the sidelines of the 48th ASEAN Summit in the Philippines.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet joined Vietnamese Prime Minister Le Minh Hung and Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone for what Cambodian officials described as a traditional working breakfast meeting aimed at reinforcing strategic ties among the three neighbouring countries.
According to the Cambodian government, the three leaders welcomed the close relationship and growing cooperation among their countries and stressed the importance of maintaining regular high-level consultations amid increasingly complex regional and global developments.
The leaders discussed initiatives to deepen collaboration in politics, defence and security, trade and investment, infrastructure connectivity, energy integration and tourism development, including increasing direct flights between the three countries.
Hun Manet emphasised the need to strengthen regional supply chains by leveraging each country’s comparative advantages and called for faster implementation of cross-border infrastructure projects to facilitate trade and travel.
With Laos, the Cambodian leader urged authorities to accelerate site selection for a planned bridge linking Cambodia’s Rovea River area with Laos’ Selampao River region. With Vietnam, he called for faster coordination on linking Cambodia’s Phnom Penh-Bavet expressway project with Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City-Moc Bai expressway.
Hun Manet also proposed exploring the development of a trilateral electricity connectivity project using existing transmission infrastructure and encouraged relevant agencies to study the possibility of creating joint tourism packages among the three countries.
Before concluding the meeting, Hun Manet invited the leaders of Laos and Vietnam to attend the 20th Francophonie Summit, which Cambodia will host in November.
The trilateral talks come as Southeast Asian countries seek to improve regional connectivity and economic resilience amid global economic uncertainty and shifting geopolitical dynamics.
