Vietnam and Cambodia on July 29 held a ceremony to officially allow each other’s vehicles to go through the pair of international border gates at Hoa Lu-Trapeang Sre in the southern province of Binh Phuoc and the neighbouring Cambodian province of Kratie.

This is the fifth out of the seven pairs of border gates to be opened to each other’s vehicles under the Road Transport Agreement between Vietnam and Cambodia, which was signed on June 1, 1998 and the May 10, 2005 Protocol between the two countries.

With the opening, vehicles of the two countries are allowed to go deep into the territories of each other, helping reduce transport cost and time as well as contributing to developing trade between Vietnam and Cambodia.
In the past, vehicles had to stop at the border for transshipment.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Transport and Communication Nguyen Ngoc Dong asked relevant agencies of the two countries to closely coordinate and create favourable conditions for transportation of people and goods through the border while ensuring border security and order.

Trade and investment between Vietnam and Cambodia have seen positive developments recently, with two-way trade turnover hitting 1.83 billion USD in 2010. The figure was 626 million USD in the first quarter of this year, a 45 percent increase over the same period last year.

Cambodia currently ranks 16 th among Vietnam ’s export markets, while Vietnam is the fourth largest export market of Cambodia. /.