Vietnam, Cambodia meet to discuss border demarcation

The two chairmen of the Joint Commitee on Border Demarcation and Marker Planting agreed on a series of issues in Phnom Penh during their three-day meeting that wrapped up on July 9.
The two chairmen of the Joint Commitee on Border Demarcation and Marker Planting agreed on a series of issues in Phnom Penh during their three-day meeting that wrapped up on July 9.

The Vietnamese delegation to the meeting was led by Deputy Foreign Minister Ho Xuan Son, while the Cambodia delegation by Var Kimhong, senior minister in charge of border affairs.

The two sides reviewed work on demarcation and boder-maker placing between 2006 and 2015. The countries were able to identify boundaries along 920km of the border’s total 1,137km.

They managed to identify 206 out of 314 spots for placing border markers, representing 84.1 percent of the set target. They erected 305 border markers out of the planned 371border markers, or 82.2 percent of the total. Sovereignty was defined for 104 islands and islets in the middle of rivers. Thirty-nine belong to Vietnam, while 65 belong to Cambodia.

The officials remained divided on how to deal with seven sections of the border line, including one that separates Vietnam’s Gia Lai province and Cambodia’s Ratanakiri province and another between Gia Lai and Dak Lak of Vietnam, and Ratanakiri and Mondulkiri of Cambodia. The two sides agreed to intensify their staffs’ marker-placing work, as well as their own meetings.

They committed to finish the bilateral demarcation and border-maker talks by their deadline, the end of this year.

While exchanging candid ideas about the unfortunate incidents that have happened recently on the border, the two sides vowed to strengthen cooperation between public agencies and local authorities to deal with problems in the future.

In case of incidents, they agreed that they needed to act more promptly, inform each other about what is happening, and work more closely to prevent the incidents from spreading or hindering current demarcation work.

They also said they would work together to keep order in border areas and notify locals about the agreements and treaties they have signed.

The chairmen’s next meeting is set for August in Vietnam.-VNA

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