The Royal Government of Cambodia will launch a fund for infrastructure construction along the border, Samdech Moha Borvor Thipadei Hun Manet said in his special statement on the ‘One-Year Achievements of the Royal Government of the 7th Legislature of the National Assembly,’ broadcasted live this evening.
‘I’ve decided to initiate a fund to build infrastructure along the border with two goals: first, to raise additional funds; second, to provide opportunities for the citizens across the country to participate directly with the Royal Government in building infrastructure along the border,’ Samdech Thipadei Prime Minister underlined.
The government will arrange free-of-charge tours for the citizens to the border and four provinces: Kratie, Stung Treng, Mondulkiri and Rattanakiri every weekend, until the end of this year, he said.
‘This shows that we listen to the citizens. We will let them go there to see the development, and we will further promote the development of those four provinces to allay their conc
erns,’ he added.
The Royal Government has been accused by a small group of political extremists, most of whom reside overseas, of losing the territory and sovereignty in the four northeastern provinces to Vietnam under the Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam Development Triangle Area (CLV-DTA), despite a series of explanations and the sharing of supporting documentation.
Samdech Thipadei Hun Manet commissioned H.E. Neth Pheaktra, Minister of Information, to organise the tours by providing free transport and food every weekend by starting from September until the end of 2024.
In a special statement delivered on July 23,2024, Senate President Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen, who had initiated the establishment of the CLV-DTA cooperation in 1999 when he was the Prime Minister of Cambodia, re-emphsised the significance of this CLV-DTA cooperation framework.
He highlighted four main factors for the creation of CLV-DTA, including economic connectivity focusing on infrastructure, electricity, trade exchange, touris
m and so on; security and national defence, especially the fight against human and drug trafficking, illegal logging, terrorism, militia groups, …; human resource training and health services; and cross-border disaster management cooperation, in response particularly to drought, wildfire, and so on.
‘There is no agreement on territorial exchange, but for socio-economic, security and national defence benefits. Each party controls its own territory and development. […] It is about complementing each other,’ he explained, stressing that there is no point stating about the land loss or joint creation of a new nation there.
The CLV-DTA was officially established on Nov. 28, 2004 in Vientiane to bolster and consolidate friendly relations, tighten solidarity and comprehensive cooperation, with a focus on socio-economic development, defence-security cooperation, and people-to-people exchanges for the sustainable development of the three countries and the region.
The CLV-DTA is composed of 13 provinces, namely Stun
g Treng, Rattanakiri, Mondulkiri, and Kratie of Cambodia; Sekong, Attapeu, Salavan, and Champassak of Laos; and Kon Tum, Gia Lai, Dak Lak, Dak Nong, and Binh Phuoc of Vietnam.
By 2023, the Royal Government of Cambodia has spent about US$3.85 billion to boost the development of northeastern part of the country aimed at connecting economic flow with the development triangle area between the three neighbouring countries – Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam – through the construction of various infrastructures, industrial parks and economic centres. These funds include US$1.5 billion in Kratie, US$1.2 billion in Stung Treng, US$728 million in Rattanakiri and US$431 million in Mondulkiri.
Source: Agence Kampuchea Presse