The event, via videoconference, was co-chaired by Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh and Cambodian Deputy PM and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Prak Sokhonn.
With the exchange of the ratification documents, the 2019 Supplementary Treaty and the protocol on land border demarcation and marker planting, which recognized the implementation of 84% of the workload of the Vietnam-Cambodia land border demarcation and marker planting agreement, officially took effect on December 22, 2020.
The 2019 Supplementary Treaty and the protocol’s entry into effect is considered a big success after the two countries tried their best to handle land border-related issues for more than 36 years. It is also expected to help lift bilateral relations to a new height and realize the motto of “good neighborliness, traditional friendship, comprehensive cooperation, and long-term sustainability” as agreed on by their senior leaders.
These two legal documents coming into effect demonstrate the resolve, goodwill, and efforts by Vietnam and Cambodia to jointly deal with common border issues.
The 2019 Supplementary Treaty, along with the 1985 Treaty on the Delimitation of National Boundaries and the 2005 Supplementary Treaty, will serve as a fundamental legal framework for the management, protection, and development of the Vietnam-Cambodia land border in the new context.
They will also contribute to firmly safeguarding security, defense, and social order and safety along the shared borderline, fostering development cooperation and friendship exchange, improving living standards of people of the two countries living along the borderline, and building the Vietnam-Cambodia land border as a border of peace, stability, cooperation, and sustainable development. These border deals between the two countries will also contribute to strengthening ASEAN’s solidarity and promoting the bloc’s prestige and status in the world.
In the time ahead, the two countries will work closely together to soon hand over and manage the borderline and border markers in line with the protocol on land border demarcation and marker planting. They will also continue negotiations to draft bilateral treaties on border and border gate management regulations and complete the border demarcation and marker planting in the remaining parts of the borderline.
On the same day, Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh and his Cambodian counterpart Prak Sokhonn co-chaired the 18th meeting of the Vietnam-Cambodia Joint Commission for Economic, Cultural, Scientific, and Technological Cooperation held via videoconference.
Speaking at the event, the two officials affirmed that despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the bilateral cooperation between Vietnam and Cambodia has continued to develop comprehensively. In fact, mutual political trust was consolidated via phone talks, high-level online talks, and other bilateral mechanisms, while cooperation between sectors and localities was promoted. The two sides also supported each other in the fight against COVID-19 and maintained border trade between the two countries.
The two sides have extensively discussed the results of the implementation of agreements and cooperation programs since the 17th meeting of the Joint Commission was signed. They have also talked about directions and specific measures to expand the bilateral cooperation between the two countries.
The Deputy PMs and Foreign Ministers welcomed the signing and ratification of two important documents on the Vietnam-Cambodia border and agreed to enhance the effectiveness of border management and protection, to exchange information, and deal with emerging issues in the spirit of cooperation and friendship.
The officials expressed their satisfaction with the effective coordination between the two countries at regional and international forums, especially within the ASEAN cooperation framework and other sub-regional cooperation frameworks. They agreed to continue to discuss and develop measures to help people of Vietnamese origin residing for a long time in Cambodia get legal documents soon and create favorable conditions for people of Vietnamese origin living in Cambodia’s Tonlé Sap Lake area to resettle so that they can improve their lives and contribute more to socio-economic development in Cambodia.
Translated by Song Anh