Vietnam allows overseas Vietnamese to buy land on disputed Koh Tral Island

Map location of the Cambodian island of Koh Tral, known as Phu Quoc in Vietnamese

Please read addendum at the end of the article to understand historical facts on the ownership of Khmer Koh Tral island (known as Phu Quoc) by the Vietnamese.

VietNamNet – New regulation allows overseas Vietnamese and foreigners to purchase property on Phu Quoc Island in southern Kien Giang Province. Chairman of Kien Giang People’s Committee Bui Ngoc Suong talks about the regulations.

The new regulation allows overseas Vietnamese to buy houses and transfer land on Phu Quoc Island, while Decree 81 only allows four subjects of overseas Vietnamese to buy houses in Vietnam. Are the regulations in Phu Quoc more open?

The regulations for Phu Quoc Island are more open than previous regulations. Now overseas Vietnamese, economic organizations, foreigners, foreign-invested companies, and foreign organizations are permitted to build houses for sale or lease, and to hire or transfer land with infrastructure on Phu Quoc Island; however the areas to do so will be restricted .

How will Kien Giang implement the regulations?

Provincial leaders met last week to discuss implementation of the regulations at the end of the month. In late March we will combine with HCM City People’s Committee to organize a seminar introducing planning, investment opportunities and policies of Phu Quoc Island. However, we need more time to deal with some difficulties that could hinder investment. At present we do not have detailed planning for the entire island, and infrastructure is still poor.

According to the new regulations, An Thoi Port and Phu Quoc Airport will be developed into international ports but we do not yet have detailed planning for this. If the two projects begin this year, construction will be complete in 2010. Vietnam Civil Aviation Administration told us last week that Phu Quoc Airport can firstly serve short-distance flights and will be upgraded to medium-distance in the future.

How do you expect development of Phu Quoc to occur after the new regulation is issued?

This is a big opportunity to turn the island into a high-quality ecological tourism, trade and service centre in Southeast Asia. Phu Quoc will become an economic centre, under the guidance of Prime Minister Phan Van Khai. The number of investment projects on the island has increased considerably compared to two years ago. Nearly 100 projects have been licensed or await license. But as I said, difficulties of detailed planning and poor infrastructure has meant many projects are not licensed or cannot be implemented. We have hired foreign consulting companies to research and design detailed planning for Phu Quoc, to make it more attractive in the eyes of domestic and foreign investors.

Which areas does Phu Quoc want to call for investment in?

In accordance with planning for Phu Quoc island to 2010, the island will be a high-quality ecological tourism centre and a trade and service hub for Vietnam and the region. Nam An Thoi peninsula will develop sea- eco-tourism of high quality, and tourist sites will be developed at the beaches of Duong Dong, Sao, Khem and Truong. Duong Dong Town will become the administrative, service, commercial, industrial and tourism centre of Phu Quoc.

Phu Quoc now needs investment in golf projects at Cua Can, Ganh Dau, An Thoi, Bai Vong, racecourse and kite flying grounds in Duong To, a water sport site and sea diving at Ham Ninh. In addition, we also need the participation of investors in banking, services, and infrastructure development.

Koh Tral (Phu Quoc) History

By Dr. Say Bory (16 August 2000)

Historical Benchmarks:

• 1856: King Ang Duong apprise Mr. de Montigny, French envoy in visit to Bangkok, through the intermediary of Bishop Miche, his intention to yield Koh Tral to France (cf. “The Second [French] Empire of IndoChina”).
• 1863: Establishing the Protectorate of Cambodia, France annexed Kampuchea Krom, made a French colony out of it, and named it “Cochinchine”.
• May 25, 1874: Koh Tral (Phu Quoc) which belonged to Cambodia (under the reign of King Ang Duong) was placed under the administration of the Governor of Cochinchine, i.e. under the administration of France, by the French Protectorate.
• June 16, 1875: Koh Tral is attached to the inspection district of Hatien which was colonized by France. One needs to recall that in 1855, King Ang Duong reminded Napoleon III [first French President (1948-1852), later French Emperor (1852-1870)] that “the territories annexed by Vietnam located between the Western branch of the Mekong [River] and the Gulf of Siam (Hatien area) were “actually Cambodian land” (cf. A. Dolphin-Dauphin-Meunier – “History of Cambodia”, pg. 99). Therefore, Koh Tral always remains a Cambodian island, even though it is under the administration of colonial France.
• January 31, 1939: the “Brévié Line” which is not a maritime border demarcation, but rather a line dividing the police and administrative authority “on the islands along the Gulf of Siam” [was established]. By this act, Koh Tral was placed, as it did in 1875, under the French colonial administration of Cochinchine. Brévié himself specified that “the territorial dependence of these islands (including that of Phu Quoc) remains entirely reserved”.
• June 04, 1949: In spite of Cambodian protests and the Deferre Motion [the Deferre Motion has been part of the Bill of Transfer of French Cochinchine to Vietnam which spelled out specific rights of the Khmer Krom people], France voted a law allowing the attachment of the Cochinchine territory (Khmer territory) to Vietnam.
• April 24, 1954: at the Geneva Conference, Cambodia still continued to protest against the unjust and uneven transfer of her Cochinchine lands to Vietnam by France, and reserved her right to litigate the case at the United Nations.
• June 07, 1957: Norodom Sihanouk, President of the Council of Ministers, requested in a letter to Lon Nol, then National Defense Minister, to ensure the protection of all islands located along the Gulf of Siam (thus also including Koh Tral), and in particular, the group of islands of Poulo-Pangjang (Khmer name: Koh Krachak Ses; Vietnamese name: Tho Chu), Koh PouloWai (Khmer name: Koh Ach Ses) and Koh Tang.
• December 30, 1957: In his Kret regarding the delimitation of the Cambodian continental shelf, King Norodom Suramarit clearly reaffirmed that Cambodia reserved her retention on her historical rights to Koh Tral (cf. Article 6 of the Kret).
• 1963: In the book “Cambodia Geography” published in 1963 by Tan Kim Huon, a Khmer scholar who was also an agricultural engineer and forestry expert, [he indicated that] Koh Tral is indeed a Cambodian island (cf. maps no. 3, 12, and 19).
• 1969: Koh Tral (Phu Quoc) is included in the official list of Cambodian islands published by the Industry and Mineral Resources Ministry, and was numbered 61 (on a total of 64 islands).
• July 01, 1972: Following the July 1, 1972 Kret, the Khmer Republic Government maintains its reaffirmation of its sovereignty on its continental shelf and warns oil companies against [potential] consequences of any of their actions undertaken in this zone. Koh Tral still remains Cambodian.
• 1975 to End of 1978: Status quo.
• July 07, 1982: Koh Tral (Phu Quoc) and Poulo-Pangjang (Tho Chu) appear in the Vietnamese territory, on a map attached to the “Treaty on the Historical Water Zone between the Popular Republic of Kampuchea and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam”.
• Therefore, Vietnam annexes 30,000 sq. km. of Khmer maritime territory, and it creates the “historical sea” extending 10,000 sq. km. off of Koh Tral (cf. Cambodia: Oil Research, Continental Shelf - Mr. Sean Pengse, April 1995).

Conclusion

Based on the facts cited above, a self-conclusion is obvious.

Phu Quoc Island Geography

Location: Phu Quoc Island lies in the Gulf of Thailand, 45 km from Ha Tien and 15 km south of the coast of Cambodia.

Characteristics: Phu Quoc, the largest island in Vietnam, part of Kien Giang Province, is also part of an archipelago consisting of 22 islands of all sizes. The island covers an area of 585 km2 and is 50km long.

The population underwent a sudden increase in the last twenty years; there are 55,000 people inhabiting the island now whereas there were no more than 5,000 people in 1975.

Phu Quoc is also called the Emerald Island because of its natural treasures and infinite tourism potential. The island is well known for its high-quality fish sauce; Phu Quoc fish sauce smells particularly good since it is made from a small fish, ca com, with a high level of protein. The island produces 6 million liters of fish sauce every year.

Phu Quoc Island has many harbors such as An Thoi and Hon Thom where international and domestic ships anchor. Also, there are several historical sites on the island: National Hero Nguyen Trung Truc's military base, Gia Long King relics from the time he spent on the island, and Phu Quoc Prison.

Off the coast of the island emerges a group of 105 islands of all sizes. Some of them are densely inhabited such as Hon Tre and Kien Hai, 25 km from Rach Gia. Visitors can spend time on the beach or hike while observing the wild animals - vietnam-tourism.com