Vietnam's economic and technical assistance to Cambodia were difficult to evaluate because neither side chose to disclose the precise monetary value of such aid. For example, the Cambodian Domestic News Service acknowledged that in 1986 the Vietnamese had given Cambodia "some aid with no strings attached" for the construction of work sites in Kampong Chhnang and for the Phnom Penh-Hanoi Friendship Kindergarten but did not disclose the amount of money involved in these projects.

Vietnamese officials have indicated vaguely that their friendship treaty with Cambodia committed them to an annual aid package of at least US$25 million. During the first years of the emergency period, Vietnam's aid was estimated by outside sources at US$56 million in 1979 and at US$62 million in 1980.

A large part of Vietnamese aid was assistance in kind, particularly food, medical and school supplies, household commodities, and commercial vehicles, such as passenger buses for Phnom Penh. One important and lasting form of Vietnamese aid consisted of a technical assistance package that included the services of Vietnamese advisers and technical experts as well as training for Cambodian cadres and personnel. According to the Cambodian official news agency, a total of 431 cadres and other personnel received technical training in Vietnam in 1986. In addition, through bilateral agreements, Vietnamese experts conducted short-term, on-the-job training at several Cambodian ministries, general directorates, and offices. The Cambodians reportedly preferred this form of on-site training.

It was reported officially that Cambodian-Vietnamese cooperation had led to the completion of sixty-five projects. Other projects scheduled for the First Plan included consumer-goods enterprises, small industrial and handicraft workshops, animal breeding, and the building of a greenbelt around Phnom Penh.

Data as of December 1987