http://english.vietnamnet.vn06/06/2009
VietNamNet Bridge - Officials of the Vietnamese and Cambodian governments and their 22 border provinces met in Ho Chi Minh City on June 3-5 to discuss ways and means of further promoting their co-operation and development.
Under the co-chair of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Home Affairs Sar Kheng, the meeting, the fifth of its kind, which also saw the attendance of senior officials from Ho Chi Minh City, Can Tho City and Phnom Penh, reviewed the results of co-operation agreements reached at their last meeting.
The officials highly valued the existing comprehensive co-operation and mutual assistance between the ministries, sectors and border provinces that have constantly grown and become more effective.
They especially noted the growth in cross-border trade, which has surpassed US$1.1 billion, or 70% of all bilateral trade value, and the co-operation in investment, security, defence, infrastructure construction, healthcare, culture and education.
The Vietnamese and Cambodian officials stressed that the results over the past few years had contributed significantly to boosting socio-economic growth, and considerably improving the living standards and cultural lives of local people who live along the border.
They underlined that these firm co-operative ties have also contributed to ensuring security and maintaining stability along the mutual border and will serve as an important foundation for border provinces to strengthen ties, thus helping to deepen the two countries’ friendship and all-round and long-term sustainable co-operation.
The officials also discussed and reached consensus on the ways forward and how to co-operate in the future and expressed their determination to broaden and raise effective co-operation between border localities in all areas.
Those orientations aim to fully tap potentials of border areas and accelerate their socio-economic growth, to meet the aspirations of the local people and contribute to building a peaceful, stable and prosperous border.
The Cambodian and Vietnamese officials agreed to focus on boosting bilateral co-operation in several areas key to border localities’ growth, including upgrading the infrastructure, especially the transport infrastructure and strengthening transport links. They considered this as essential to boosting socio-economic ties and trade between both countries.
They also agreed to step up joint initiatives in trade, services and tourism in the border areas, develop border gate economic zones and border markets, and expand co-operation in agriculture, fisheries and forestry.
The high points of the co-operation agreement will be working together in education and training, developing human resources, healthcare, sporting activities and cultural exchanges.
The officials also acknowledged the need to speed up border marker planting and co-operation in security matters to maintain stability and order in border areas.
VietNamNet/VNA
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