Vietnam, Cambodia Meet Over Trade, Security

Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh Tuesday, 03 August 2010

“Both sides agreed to create favorable conditions and further encourage trade and services in the border areas.”

Interior Minister Sar Kheng met with his Vietnamese counterpart on Tuesday in talks aimed at improving trade and relations among provinces along the border.

Trade volume between the two increased more than 120 percent in the first quarter of the year compared to the same period last year. But smuggling and other trade barriers remain.

“Both sides agreed to create favorable conditions and further encourage trade and services in the border areas,” according to a government statement released following Tuesday's meeting.

The two sides also agreed to provide each other with trade preferences, simplify import and export procedures and enhance the prevention of contraband.

“Both sides also agreed to consider the possibility of upgrading the border checkpoints and/or to establish additional new border checkpoints,” according to the statement.

Officials along the border provinces say they need more work done to capitalize on trade, but that Vietnamese investment has begun to bring jobs.

“We do not have the Vietnamese in our province across the border because the road across the border has not been developed yet,” said So Neak, provincial governor of Ratanakkiri.

However, there is some trade, mostly of tools, fruit, cement and fertilizer imports, as well as rice, rubber, cassava and soybean exports.

There, Vietnamese rubber plantations have been established, employing more than 4,000 people, he said.

Similar Vietnamese plantations have employed more than 3,000 Cambodians in Kratie province, Governor Kham Phoeun told VOA Khmer.

“The Vietnamese investment and trade exchange helps boost our people's living, tax collection and work for Cambodians,” he said.

Vietnam is seen pushing the CPP to accept one-sided border comunity ties

Cambodian and Vietnamese border communities strengthen ties

June 6, 2009
VNA (Hanoi)

Officials of the Vietnamese and Cambodian governments and their 22 border provinces met in Ho Chi Minh City on June 3-5 to discuss ways and means of further promoting their co-operation and development.

Under the co-chair of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Home Affairs Sar Kheng, the meeting, the fifth of its kind, which also saw the attendance of senior officials from Ho Chi Minh City, Can Tho City and Phnom Penh, reviewed the results of co-operation agreements reached at their last meeting.

The officials highly valued the existing comprehensive co-operation and mutual assistance between the ministries, sectors and border provinces that have constantly grown and become more effective.

They especially noted the growth in cross-border trade, which has surpassed US$1.1 billion, or 70% of all bilateral trade value, and the co-operation in investment, security, defence, infrastructure construction, healthcare, culture and education.

The Vietnamese and Cambodian officials stressed that the results over the past few years had contributed significantly to boosting socio-economic growth, and considerably improving the living standards and cultural lives of local people who live along the border.

They underlined that these firm co-operative ties have also contributed to ensuring security and maintaining stability along the mutual border and will serve as an important foundation for border provinces to strengthen ties, thus helping to deepen the two countries’ friendship and all-round and long-term sustainable co-operation.

The officials also discussed and reached consensus on the ways forward and how to co-operate in the future and expressed their determination to broaden and raise effective co-operation between border localities in all areas.

Those orientations aim to fully tap potentials of border areas and accelerate their socio-economic growth, to meet the aspirations of the local people and contribute to building a peaceful, stable and prosperous border.

The Cambodian and Vietnamese officials agreed to focus on boosting bilateral co-operation in several areas key to border localities’ growth, including upgrading the infrastructure, especially the transport infrastructure and strengthening transport links. They considered this as essential to boosting socio-economic ties and trade between both countries.

They also agreed to step up joint initiatives in trade, services and tourism in the border areas, develop border gate economic zones and border markets, and expand co-operation in agriculture, fisheries and forestry.

The high points of the co-operation agreement will be working together in education and training, developing human resources, healthcare, sporting activities and cultural exchanges.

The officials also acknowledged the need to speed up border marker planting and co-operation in security matters to maintain stability and order in border areas.