Cambodian PM Hun Sen-Duterte tête-à-tête held at Peace Palace

Phnom Penh—After President Rodrigo Duterte’s “smooth” and “successful” meeting with the Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni, he had a tete-a-tete and expanded bilateral talks with Prime Minister Hun Sen, who welcomed him to the Peace Palace on Wednesday afternoon.

READ: King of Cambodia meets with Duterte despite religious retreat

After their meeting, the two leaders witnessed the signing of four agreements on transnational crime, sports cooperation, tourism and labor cooperation.

On the tourism front, the officials of the two countries signed the program to implement their earlier agreement to cooperate on tourism matters.

Under the agreement, the two countries would work together on air accessibility and route development. This means opening up direct flights between Manila and Phnom Penh.

The Philippines is hoping to increase the number of Cambodian tourists visiting the Philippines through the opening of the direct flights between the two countries’ capitals, according to Tourism Secretary Wanda Teo.

Less than 3,000 Cambodians have visited the Philippines this year. But more than 70,000 Filipinos have come to Cambodia this year.

The agreement on sports cooperation would involve an exchange between the two countries on the best practices on sports management and training, and an exchange of sports officials, said Philippine Ambassador Christopher Montero.

The agreement on transnational crime would have the Philippine and Cambodian police working together to address drug trafficking, terrorism, extremism and financial and economic crimes.

On the labor front, Montero earlier said Cambodia has an interest in vocational training because they feel the Philippines has a high level of expertise in this area. RAM