South Korea and Cambodia agreed Tuesday to enhance bilateral ties in terms of economy, culture, tourism, infrastructure development and labor, South Korean Presidential Office said on Tuesday.

The agreement was reached during a meeting between South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and visiting Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen in Seoul earlier Tuesday.

The two leaders also agreed to cooperate to accelerate the conclusion of free trade agreement talks between South Korea and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, while Roh appreciated Cambodia's decision to offer preferential tariffs for goods produced at a South Korean industrial park in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s border city of Kaesong, it added.

Kaesong Industrial Complex is a joint economic cooperation project between South Korea and the DPRK, which is aiming to combine South Korean investment and technology with cheap but skilled labor force in the DPRK. Until now, 13 South Korean enterprises, most of which are small and medium size companies, opened factories in the park.

Hun also invited Roh to pay a state visit to Cambodia this year, and the South Korean president responded positively.

After the meeting, the two leaders also observed the signing of three memorandums of understanding on exchanges in culture and tourism, cooperation in labor affairs and South Korea's extension of the Economic Development and Cooperation Fund for the water resources development of Cambodia's Cranpon River, the office said.

The Cambodian prime minister arrived in South Korea on Monday for a four-day visit.

Hun attended a luncheon with South Korean business leaders on Tuesday and was scheduled to visit a number of industrial facilities, including a CJ sugar plant, a power plant, an electric wire plant and Seoul's Garak-dong Agricultural and Marine Products Wholesale Market until Wednesday.

He will leave here for home on Thursday. It is Hun's second visit to South Korea.

Source: Xinhua