Vietnam-Cambodia border topographic maps handed over to 22 ministries, agencies

• Vietnam and Cambodia exchange border topographic maps
• PM appeals for calm following new community COVID-19 case

The event was held by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is the standing agency of the State Steering Committee on Land Border Demarcation and Marker Planting, and the steering committee for border demarcation and marker planting at the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

At the event, representatives of 22 agencies were presented with the maps, accompanied by digital versions, and training on their use in performing border-related tasks.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Hoai Trung speaking at the event.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the maps are legal and technical documents that fully reflect the land border demarcation and marker planting results the two countries have recorded so far, which is about 84 percent of the total workload, and also form an inseparable part of the Vietnam-Cambodia protocol on land border demarcation and marker planting, signed on October 5, 2019.

The two countries also signed a treaty on October 5 last year that supplements a 1985 treaty on the delimitation of national boundaries and the 2005 supplementary treaty.

They were created, printed, and bound under the strictest technical requirements for map publication, to ensure accuracy and objectivity. Vietnam and Cambodia contracted the Blom Infor company, later renamed NIRAS Mapping A/S, of Denmark, to produce the maps.

Together with the two legal documents signed in 2019 and the modern border marker system, the maps are considered a major achievement by both countries after more than 36 years of negotiations.

The results are attributed to goodwill and constructive cooperation, close coordination between border experts and legal and technical staff of both sides, and the support of related ministries, sectors, and localities.

The hand-over of maps and training on their use will continue to be carried out in the time ahead in Vietnamese provinces bordering Cambodia. It is expected to create the best possible conditions for ministries, sectors, and localities to prepare for the implementation of the two legal documents inked last year, especially the popularisation of border-related tasks, the management and protection of the borderline and border markers, the safeguarding of border security and social order and safety, and fighting cross-border crime.

The two countries’ land border runs between ten Vietnamese provinces (Kon Tum, Gia Lai, Dak Lak, Dak Nong, Binh Phuoc, Tay Ninh, Long An, Dong Thap, An Giang, and Kien Giang) and nine Cambodian provinces (Ratanakiri, Mondulkiri, Kratié, Tboung Khmum, Svay Rieng, Prey Veng, Kandal, Takeo, and Kampot).