SINGAPORE – Singapore and Cambodia have reaffirmed their longstanding relations and growing cooperation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said on Tuesday, following a visit by Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean to the country’s capital, Phnom Penh.

Mr Teo, who was there for a four-day working visit that ended on Tuesday, caught some action at the SEA Games and called on Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, among other top political and military figures.

During the first two days of his visit, he attended the 32nd SEA Games in his capacity as an honorary life president of the SEA Games Federation Council – a role he was appointed to in 2015.

On Monday, he called on Mr Hun Sen, and the leaders reaffirmed longstanding relations between the two countries, said MFA in a statement on Tuesday.

MFA added that they discussed regional and international developments, and welcomed the growing cooperation in emerging areas, including renewable energy and carbon credits.

Mr Teo, who is also Coordinating Minister for National Security, met the Cambodian top brass – deputy commander-in-chief of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, General Hun Manet, and Lieutenant-General Hun Manith, the deputy commander of the Royal Cambodian Army – and discussed security and defence cooperation.

In meetings with the secretary-general for the Council for the Development of Cambodia Sok Chenda Sophea and the managing director of Electricite du Cambodge Keo Rottanak, Mr Teo discussed economic ties between the two countries and new cooperation on cross-border electricity trading.

On Tuesday, the final day of his visit, Mr Teo had separate meetings with Cambodia’s deputy prime ministers Sar Kheng and Tea Banh, during which the leaders discussed cooperation in areas including security and defence, said MFA.

The statement also said that Mr Teo and Cambodian leaders welcomed the growing cooperation in the energy sector, citing Keppel Energy’s partnership with Cambodia’s Royal Group Power Company.

The Energy Market Authority said on March 16 that the Singapore electricity retailer has received conditional approval to import hydropower, solar and potentially wind power from its Cambodian counterpart.

This could see Singapore import one gigawatt of renewable energy yearly via new subsea cables that would transmit the electricity more than 1,000km to Singapore.