Cambodian parliament ratifies cultural cooperation agreement between ASEAN, Russia

The National Assembly of Cambodia on Thursday unanimously ratified the agreement on cultural cooperation between the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Russia.

All 120 lawmakers present, including Prime Minister Hun Sen and opposition leader Sam Rainsy, approved the agreement.

Yem Ponharith, head of the assembly's commission on education, religious affairs, culture and tourism, said the document was signed between ASEAN and Russia in October 2010 in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam.

"It aims to further strengthen the relations between member states of ASEAN and the Russian Federation in the cultural sphere, " he said at the assembly floor.

Under the agreement, ASEAN and Russia will promote and develop cooperation and exchanges in the fields of music, theater, archives, libraries, museums, cultural heritage, dance, visual arts, film, copyright, folk-crafts, decorative arts, circus and other artistic forms.

Cambodian Minister of Culture and Fine Arts Phoeurng Sackona said ASEAN and Russia will also cooperate on training and enhancing the skills of practitioners in specific fields of culture and arts.

"Moreover, the agreement is very important for ASEAN and Russia to prevent illegal export and import of cultural heritage property of their states and to exchange information relating to such matter," she said.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.