The Royal Government of Cambodia has ensured that the Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam Development Triangle Area (CLV-DTA) does not lead to the loss of Cambodian territory.
‘On behalf of the Royal Government, I would like to assure the citizens that we will not lose neither our territory nor our national sovereignty due to this CLV-DTA cooperation,’ he reaffirmed while he and his spouse were presiding over a get-together and a solidarity dinner with the Cambodia Oknha Association and the Housing Development Association of Cambodia in Phnom Penh this evening
The Premier further stressed that the CLV-DTA Agreement does not contain any provision for land swaps. “It has been already 25 years. The four provinces (Stung Treng, Rattanakiri, Mondulkiri, and Kratie) have seen nothing, but development. Of course, we cooperate with neighbouring countries, but it does not mean that we will give this area to anyone. So please trust me and if you do not believe, please go to meet the people there,’ he said.
Moreover, he continued
, we see clearly that the people of the three countries cannot enter or leave the other country easily as they wish, and we also advise our people not to lease land to foreigners, and foreigners are also not allowed to buy houses at the border.
‘In the past 25 years, we have planted many border markers in the four provinces. “This is a testament to our willingness to show where our borders are,” Samdech Thipadei underlined. ‘The citizens’ worries are not wrong. Their concern is a patriotic spirit. We have the right to express our views, but please do not distort [the truth] and do not ‘burn’ our own country.”
Before concluding, the Prime Minister reiterated that the CLV-DTA project and other development projects in all areas of the Kingdom of Cambodia will not make the country lose her territory.
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 then Prime Min
ister 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, tourism 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, adding that there is no point [in the agreement] 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, Laos to bolster and consolidate friendly relations, tighten sol
idarity 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 Stung 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