ONLY DAYS after Thailand halted the Bt40-billion Stung Nam hydropower project, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and his Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen yesterday agreed to enhance economic ties and connectivity.
Prayut led a Thai delegation at the 3rd
Thailand-Cambodia Joint Cabinet Retreat in Phnom Penh yesterday to
discuss cooperation in various fields including trade, investment,
border security, migrant workers and culture.
Thailand is willing to provide more assistance to Cambodia to improve
its farm products and speed up the opening of more border checkpoints to
facilitate trade and travel, Prayut said in a joint press conference
after the meeting.
On connectivity, both sides agreed to fulfil an agreement on the rail
link from Thailand’s border province of Sa Kaew to Cambodia’s capital
city of Phnom Penh, he said. It would be a historic railway project to
connect Thailand and other neighboring countries in the Mekong basin,
he said.
Hun Sen said both countries would boost bilateral trade and Thailand had
agreed to buy more farm products from Cambodia as well as open four
additional border checkpoints in the near future.
Both countries have set targets to improve bilateral trade to reach
US$15 billion (Bt496 billion) by 2020, according to Thai Deputy
Government Spokesperson Werachon Sukhondhapatipak. To reach the target,
the two countries have to facilitate border crossings and trade as well
as contract farming, he said.
The two premiers also witnessed the signing of two documents – the Joint
Declaration for the 3rd Thailand-Cambodia Joint Cabinet Retreat, to
reaffirm both countries’ commitment to promote “Enhanced Partnership for
Peace and Prosperity” and the Agreement for the Avoidance of Double
Taxation.
Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan, who was also part of the
delegation, said relations and cooperation between the two countries on
security matters was excellent at all levels.
The defence ministries, armed forces and other joint mechanisms had good
relations and worked well, he said, and they would establish a
communication hotline at all levels to coordinate security matters, he
said.
Among the issues for border security was illegal logging, notably of
rosewood, according to spokesman Werachon, who added that the number of
timber smuggling cases, as well as clashes between smugglers and Thai
security forces, reduced significantly over the past year.
However, the controversial Stung Nam hydro power project, which was
suspended by Prayut shortly before his departure to Phnom Penh, was not
discussed, Werachon said.
The plan to purchase electricity from the 24-megawatt dam in Cambodia’s
Koh Kong province and get free fresh water for the Eastern Economic
Corridor (EEC) was put on hold because the electricity price was too
expensive and the investment cost for a pipeline to transport water from
the border to the EEC was too high.
Cambodian investor Ly Yong Phat of LYP Group told local newspaper Khmer
Times that the delay in the deal was due to time constraints by both
sides that could not process the documents on time.
Source - TheNation
