greeting officials during a visit to France, 1911. A treaty was signed in 1863 by King Norodom and was approved by his counterpart
Napoleon III. Cambodia officially became a protectorate of the French empire on 11 August 1863. In October 1949, the
Maoist dictator
Pol Pot (
Saloth Sâr) went to
Paris to join the
French Communist Party and returns home to his native Cambodia in the summer of 1953. Cambodia gained its independence in November 1953, thanks to Prince
Norodom Sihanouk. French president
Charles de Gaulle visited Cambodia in 1966 and was given a warm welcome by
Prince Norodom Sihanouk. France and Cambodia enjoy close relations, stemming partly from the days of the French Protectorate, partly from the role played by France in the signing of the
peace agreements in Paris in 1991, and is further cemented by the French language. These relations are gradually adapting to Cambodia's growing integration into its regional environment and its progress towards the status of a Middle Income Country. The "Orientation and Cooperation Document" signed in 2010 steers cooperation towards the goal of: "supporting economic growth and job creation in Cambodia by developing human capital and promoting French private investment". ==French assistance==