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Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn welcomes Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on November 8, 2021. Photo: AFP
AsiaSoutheast Asia

Australia to send Cambodia 3 million vaccine doses as Marise Payne makes Southeast Asia tour

  • The foreign minister spoke with Hun Sen on trade and Australian assistance to Cambodia, as she made her second stop in a four-nation trip
  • The tour comes amid concern by some Asean members over Australia’s plan to build nuclear-powered submarines under its Aukus pact with the UK and US
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Australia’s foreign minister on Monday met Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on issues including the Covid-19 pandemic during the second stop of her four-nation Southeast Asian tour.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne exchanged views with her host on trade and Australia’s provision of assistance to Cambodia in the education, health, agriculture and defence sectors, said Eang Sophalleth, a spokesman for the Cambodian premier.

Payne mentioned during talks that Australia will provide 3.5 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine shots to Cambodia, with 1.5 million doses set to arrive by the end of this year, the spokesman added.
Australia’s Foreign Minister Marise Payne speaks to Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn (R) during a meeting in Phnom Penh on November 8, 2021. Photo: AFP

Australia in February announced a separate grant of US$28 million for Cambodia to purchase 3 million doses.

Cambodia has vaccinated 87 per cent of its more than 16 million people, one of Asia’s highest inoculation rates.

“The Australian government has decided to provide Cambodia with 3,250,000 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, of which 1 million will be delivered to Cambodia before the end of this year,” Hun Sen said on his official Facebook page.

The country has already given 2 million booster shots and begun inoculating children.

Australia’s Southeast Asia links of more concern than China ties: ex-PM Rudd

Payne, who also serves as Australia’s Minister for Women, paid a visit to a shelter for women survivors of violence in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh that receives support from the Australian government.

Ahead of Payne’s trip to Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam and Indonesia, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade announced last week that one of its goals was “to strengthen our shared work to promote the region’s economic and health recovery from Covid-19”.
It also said her trip was a follow-up to an agreement last month to establish a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between Asean and Australia.

Cambodia last month assumed the Asean chair, which rotates annually among the regional bloc’s 10 members.

Several Asean members, including Malaysia and Indonesia, have expressed concern about Australia’s plan to build nuclear-powered submarines under its recently announced Aukus defence technology pact with Britain and the United States.

Hun Sen’s spokesman said Payne briefed the prime minister on the agreement, and he thanked her for the explanation. Cambodia is a close ally of China, which has criticised the pact.

Payne, who arrived from Malaysia, next visits Vietnam and then concludes her tour in Indonesia, the region’s biggest country.

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