- Honorable Md. Abdul Hamid, President of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh,
- Honorable Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh,
- Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen!
Today, I am very honored and delighted to deliver, on behalf of the Royal Government and people of the Kingdom of Cambodia, congratulatory message on the commemoration of the Birth Centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the Golden Jubilee of the Independence of Bangladesh through a video as I could not attend these historical events in person due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On this solemn occasion, I have a great pleasure to convey my warmest congratulations and best wishes for good health, greater happiness and prosperity to Honorable President Md. Abdul Hamid, Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the friendly people of Bangladesh.
I would also like to congratulate and praise the Government and people of Bangladesh for the remarkable achievements over the past decades, by following the Late Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s pragmatic and visionary leadership. Bangladesh, under the wise stewardship of Honorable President Md. Abdul Hamid and Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, has achieved high economic growth, social progress, and better quality of life of the Bangladeshi people. This spectacular success has enabled Bangladesh to meet the eligibility criteria for graduation from Least Developed Country category in 2021.
- Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
The historical friendly relationship between Cambodia and Bangladesh was founded by close and special affinity between the Late King Father of Cambodia, His Majesty Preah Bat Samdech Preah NORODOM SIHANOUK, Preah BOROM RATANAK KAUDH, and the Father of the Nation of Bangladesh Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman during the Conference of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in Algeria in 1973.
Cambodia and Bangladesh established formal diplomatic relations on 17 February 1993, marking a new chapter of our relationship. For nearly three decades, I am pleased to note that our two countries have enjoyed amicable relationship and fruitful cooperation in both bilateral and multilateral levels based on equal footing and mutual respect for the interest of our two nations and peoples.
There have been frequent high-level exchanges between our two countries. My historic visit to Bangladesh in June 2014 and the return visit to Cambodia by Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in December 2017 brought about the signing of many documents in support of economy, trade, investment and technical cooperation between the two countries. We also agreed on the mutual naming of a prominent street in Phnom Penh and in Dhaka after the names of the Father of Nation of Cambodia and Bangladesh to highlight the deep love and respect for the two great statesmen.
- Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
On these auspicious events, I would like to reaffirm my strong commitment to further deepen the bilateral relations and close cooperation between Cambodia and Bangladesh, and to develop a stronger and mutually beneficial partnership at regional and international frameworks to contribute to peace, stability and prosperity in the region and the world at large, particularly to overcome the current global health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Thank you!
