Kazakhstan and Cambodia have signed six memorandums, including one on establishing sister-city relations between the capitals of the two countries. The remaining documents concern digitalization, trade, culture and tourism. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
Following the talks, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Prime Minister Hun Manet also adopted a joint statement. In their presence, a ceremony was held to exchange intergovernmental and interagency documents.
Cooperation in digitalization
Two memorandums are dedicated to digitalization. The first was signed by Kazakhstan's Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development and Cambodia's Ministry of Post and Telecommunications.
The second provides for cooperation in the field of digital government, GovTech — technologies for public administration — and information and communication technologies. Its participants were Kazakhstan's Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development, National Information Technologies JSC and Cambodia's Ministry of Interior.
Trade, culture and tourism
A memorandum on trade and economic cooperation was signed by Kazakhstan's Ministry of Trade and Integration and Cambodia's Ministry of Commerce.
Two more documents concern culture and tourism. Cooperation in the field of culture and art was formalized by Kazakhstan's Ministry of Culture and Information and Cambodia's Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts. The tourism memorandum was signed by Kazakhstan's Ministry of Tourism and Sports and Cambodia's Ministry of Tourism.
The sixth signed document is dedicated to establishing sister-city relations between the capitals of the two countries — Astana and Phnom Penh — a metropolis with a population of more than 2.5 million people.
About Phnom Penh
Astana's new sister city is located at the confluence of the Mekong and Tonle Sap rivers, where the Bassac branch begins. Phnom Penh is known for the Royal Palace and the Silver Pagoda, whose floor is covered with more than five thousand silver tiles. Other attractions include the Buddhist temple Wat Phnom, the National Museum of Cambodia and the riverside promenade at the confluence.
Official visit and negotiations
Hun Manet arrived in Kazakhstan on an official visit. During one-on-one talks, the President of Kazakhstan proposed discussing the opening of direct air service with Cambodia. Hun Manet, in turn, stated the interest of Cambodian ministries in Kazakhstan's e-government.
Hun Manet also explained why he is so interested in digitalization in the country. It turned out that more than 120 Cambodian students have studied in Kazakhstan. Many of them today work as provincial governors, state secretaries and ministry staff.
Incidentally, the politicians had previously met in July 2026 in Shanghai. At that time, Tokayev proposed sharing Kazakhstani developments in the field of digital public services and stated his readiness to increase supplies of grain, mineral fertilizers and other agricultural products to Cambodia.