Cambodia is willing to expand ties and cooperation with Iran and hopes to soon reach a cooperation agreement on oil and gas sector, a senior Cambodian official said.
Cambodian deputy prime minister and foreign minister, Hor Namhong, on Monday also expressed the Southeast Asian state's desire for closer relations with Iran during a meeting with the outgoing Iranian Ambassador to Cambodia Hossein Alvandi Behineh, according to foreign ministry spokesman, Chum Sounry, Xinhua reported.
"The deputy prime minister expressed Phnom Penh's desire to establish a Cambodia-Iran economic cooperation committee and also suggested that the two countries sign a memorandum of understanding on oil and gas cooperation as soon as possible," Sounry told reporters after the meeting.
Behineh said Iran also wants to see the two countries sign the MoU in the near future and hoped that it would materialize during Namhong's visit to Iran early next year.
Despite being surrounded by petroleum producers in neighboring Thailand and Vietnam, Cambodia produces no oil or gas, and is wholly dependent on imports to meet its domestic needs.
Oil reserves have been found off the shore of Cambodia. The size of the oilfield is unknown, though estimates it to hold around 2 billion barrels of oil, which could bring in $2 billion in annual revenues for the country.
