"I call on Khmer art museums, institutions and collectors to continue to return these objects to Cambodia on a voluntary basis," the leader said at a ceremony in Phnom Penh.
"Historical objects must be returned to their country of origin," he said.
They constitute an "invaluable cultural heritage", stressed the Cambodian Ministry of Culture.
Among the treasures on display at the palace where the prime minister sits is part of the collection of 77 pieces of jewelry made of gold or other precious metals -- crowns, necklaces, bracelets, earrings or amulets -- returned to the kingdom in February.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen (R) prays in front of a statue, on March 17, 2023, during a ceremony to present Khmer art pieces recently returned to Cambodia © Kok KY / CAMBODIA'S GOVERNMENT CABINET / AFP
These were returned by the family of a British dealer, Douglas Latchford, indicted by the American justice for trafficking in works of art and who died in 2020 before his trial.
These treasures date from pre-Angkorian and Angkorian eras, named after the empire that dominated much of the Indochinese peninsula between the ninth and fourteenth centuries.
Also exhibited, two sculptures of the tenth century Hindu deities "Skanda mounted on a peacock" and Ganesh, restored by the United States.
These treasures are then to be exhibited at the National Museum of Cambodia in Phnom Penh.
This poor country in Southeast Asia is demanding the return of heritage stolen during the 1970s, marked by civil war and the despotic power of the Khmer Rouge.
The government has negotiated with various countries, including the United States, and private collectors to obtain the return of thousands of historical pieces considered stolen.
In August, the American justice had returned 30 Khmer works of art stolen near the famous temples of Angkor and which had been the subject of international trafficking as far as the United States.
© 2023 AFP