U.S. secretary of state, president to visit Cambodia this year: officials

PHNOM PENH, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- The United States'Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and President Barack Obama will visit Cambodia in July and November respectively to attend summits as Cambodia chairs ASEAN this year, senior officials said on Monday.

"Our Secretary of State will be here in July as well as our President will be in November," Joseph Y. Yun, deputy assistant secretary of the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs of the U. S. Department of State, told reporters after a meeting with Ouch Borith, secretary of state for Cambodia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He said that the meeting is to inform Cambodia about the upcoming U.S. leaders' visits and to discuss how to build U.S.- Cambodia relationship in 2012 through these high-level visits.

"We have really had a very exciting year ahead to strengthen U. S.-Cambodia relationship," he said.

Ouch Borith said Hillary Clinton will attend the AMM (ASEAN Ministerial Meeting) and Barack Obama will attend the ASEAN-U.S. Summit and related Summits.

"This reflects increasing relationship between the United States and ASEAN," he told reporters."The presence of the U.S. President Barack Obama in Cambodia in November is a sign showing that the Cambodia-U.S. relation is better."

It will be the first time in Cambodia's history that the incumbent President of the United States visiting Cambodia.

In the meeting, both sides also discussed about the plan for Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong's visit to Washington D.C. in March this year to strengthen Cambodia-U.S. cooperation.