New Border Crossing for Laos and Cambodia Proposed

Authorities in Laos’ Attapeu Province and their counterparts in Cambodia’s Ratanakiri Province have conducted a survey on the feasibility of opening a new bilateral border gate.

According to the Khmer Times, the possibility of the new border checkpoint was raised at a press conference held yesterday at the Council of Ministers on the results and achievements of the Ratanakiri Provincial Administration.

Provincial governor Thang Savon stated the province currently has no road connecting it with Laos, and an interconnecting route could help meet the needs of the two nations’ populations.

Provincial offices on both sides are planning to request their respective government’s approval for the opening of a bilateral border checkpoint.

If the border project were to happen, it would strengthen trade and attract tourism for both sides.

The Cambodians hope to export agricultural produce to Laos from Ratanakiri Province, which currently exports 87,000 tonnes of agricultural produce to China via its border with Vietnam. With a new border, Laos could serve as another avenue for the facilitation of Cambodian exports.

Tensions rose at the border between Laos and Cambodia last year over an area where border demarcation had not yet been implemented. The tension between the two countries began to simmer on 11 August when Lao and Cambodian troops confronted each other in an area along the border.

However, the situation was quickly stabilized after leaders from the two nations spoke to each other on 24 August, and Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith flew to Cambodia to resolve the issue.

Since then, Laos has stepped up trade and cooperation with Cambodia, inking a deal on the transmission of electricity to Cambodia earlier this year.

Source - Laotian Times

Thai checkpoint resumes for trade

Goods transportation at a Battambang checkpoint shared border with Thailand Sa Kaeo province has now resumed operations.

In the light of COVID-19 the border closed, but it has resumed in the last two weeks with time restriction, according to Battambang provincial governor Nguon Ratanak.

Although the border has just reopened, Ratanak said restriction will remain in place, leaving it opens from 7am to midnight. “They export pigs to Cambodia and we export agriculture products to Thailand,” he said.

Another international checkpoint shared between Cambodia’s Battambang province and Thailand’s Chonburi province is still open for goods transportation as normal. However it is not open to people..

The international border checkpoint in Battambang’s Sampov Luon district, connecting Thailand’s

Sakeo province is an import border gate for trade between the countries. The Federation of Cassava in Battambang President Ny Khon said recently that up to 1 million tonnes of cassava are exported through the border every season.

He noted cassava from Kompong Thom province is also transported through the border to enter Thailand.

The Bangkok Post recently reported a figure from the Thai Foreign Trade Department as showing that Cambodia’s cross-border trade with Thailand fell to $1.5 million in the first quarter as the corona-virus hit the global economy and led to the closure of dozens of checkpoints.

Keerati Rushchano, director general of the department, said outstanding performance was seen in exports to Cambodia, which saw continued growth of 14.3 percent in the first three months of the year despite the potentially deadly virus.

According to data from Thailand’s Ministry of Commerce the bilateral trade between the Kingdoms in the first three months was valued at $2.5 billion, a 31 percent hike over same period last year.

During the period, Cambodia’s total exports to Thailand reached $612 million, a 115 percent increase, while Cambodia imported from Thailand $1,891 million of goods, a 17 percent increase over the corresponding period last year.

Source - Khmer Times