Attending the opening ceremony were Politburo member, Director of the General Department of Politics of the Vietnam People's Army, General Nguyen Trong Nghia; Secretary of the Party Central Committee, Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Hoai Trung; Deputy Prime Minister Bui Thanh Son; leaders of ministries, central and local agencies of Vietnam and Cambodia, and a large number of people from the two countries.
The Vietnam-Cambodia relationship of “good neighborliness, traditional friendship, comprehensive cooperation, long-term sustainability” continues to develop strongly, substantially and effectively in all fields. In particular, economic , trade and investment cooperation has developed impressively, in which border trade is a highlight, with bilateral trade turnover maintaining an average of about 10 billion USD/year.
Tay Ninh is a border province in the Southeast region, located on the East-West economic corridor, the gateway connecting the Southern economic region with the Kingdom of Cambodia and ASEAN countries; has a border of more than 368 km, adjacent to 3 provinces of the Kingdom of Cambodia with 4 international border gates, 13 secondary border gates, 3 border gate economic zones.
The Tan Nam - Meun Chey border gate pair is about 150 km from Ho Chi Minh City and about 120 km from Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. The opening of the Tan Nam - Meun Chey border gate pair is of great significance, contributing to strengthening the good neighborly relations, traditional friendship, comprehensive cooperation, long-term sustainability between Vietnam and Cambodia. In particular, this contributes to continuing to build a peaceful, friendly, cooperative and developed border; strengthen and promote infrastructure connectivity, people-to-people exchange, bringing the trade turnover of the two countries to soon reach the target of 20 billion USD.
Previously, in 2019, the Government decided to upgrade Tan Nam sub-border gate to an international border gate. Implementing the Resolution of the Government, Tay Ninh province urgently completed the procedures and on October 25, 2024, started construction of the project on an area of 24 hectares. To date, the project has been completed, meeting international border gate standards, including the following items: national gate, joint control station, square and ceremonial yard, border control station, main road, technical infrastructure system. On the Cambodian side, the project to build Meun Chey international border gate is being implemented on an area of 9 hectares.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and the Cambodian Prime Minister both emphasized that this is an important event, clearly demonstrating the spirit of trust, solidarity, close and effective cooperation, opening a new door for trade and adding a bridge of friendship between the two nations; at the same time, highly appreciated the efforts of relevant ministries, localities and agencies in cooperating in the process of building and upgrading the border gate.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh stated that Vietnam and Cambodia are two close neighbors, with adjacent mountains and rivers, both located in the lower Mekong River region; both peoples have many similarities, both originating from a rice civilization with a long history in the Southeast Asian region.
The Prime Minister assessed that, nearly 6 decades since the official establishment of diplomatic relations, overcoming the ups and downs of history, the relationship of “good neighbors, traditional friendship, comprehensive cooperation, long-term sustainability” between Vietnam and Cambodia has steadfastly overcome many challenges and has been increasingly nurtured, consolidated and developed continuously, the people of the two countries have “shared the good times and the bad times”, helping each other in the difficult times of the past. The Prime Minister recalled the words of Samdech Techo Hun Sen: Many Vietnamese women have sacrificed their personal happiness so that their husbands and children could go to Cambodia to fight for the Cambodian people’s right to live, the right to freedom and the pursuit of happiness… And among them, many have sacrificed but their remains have not been found to be brought back to their motherland.
On the contrary, during the resistance war against colonialism and imperialism to unify the country, Cambodia gave land and roads to Vietnam to use as a shelter and a springboard to attack the enemy. Those noble sacrifices will forever be great living monuments of the two nations; two countries and two peoples. “We respect, admire, are proud of and add more beauty to this great monument to the relationship between the two countries,” Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized.
According to Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, in the process of building and developing the country today, the two countries have stood side by side to build the foundation, maintain independence and freedom, bring prosperity and happiness to the people, and fought together in the same trenches to overthrow the Pol Pot genocidal regime right after Vietnam liberated the South and reunified the country.
On the basis of the good friendship between the two countries, for many years, international border gates along the Vietnam - Cambodia border have played an important role in connecting the two economies; creating favorable conditions for goods circulation, businesses to trade, expand cooperation, and people of the two countries to visit relatives, work and study.
The Prime Minister emphasized that the Vietnam-Cambodia border is not only a territorial demarcation line but also a bridge of exchange, friendship, cooperation, and the spirit of close neighborliness and deep, lasting attachment between the two countries and peoples. The opening of the new border gate has opened up new opportunities, especially for rapid, sustainable growth, bringing happiness and prosperity to people in the border area and common prosperity to the two countries.
On behalf of the Government and people of Vietnam, Prime Minister Pham Minh respectfully thanked Samdech Thipadei, Prime Minister Hun Manet, the Government, ministries, branches, authorities and people of Cambodia, including Prey Veng province, for their unanimity, support and close coordination with Vietnam to complete the upgrading of the pair of border gates. In the coming time, to ensure the smooth and effective operation of the Tan Nam - Meun Chey border gate, the Prime Minister requested that relevant ministries, branches, agencies and localities of the two countries continue to coordinate closely, focusing on the "5 enhancements".
That is to strengthen closer coordination in border management, ensure security and order, resolutely combat cross-border crimes; periodically organize joint patrols, promptly share information, handle arising incidents; promote friendly exchange models and twinning between the border protection forces of the two countries.
Next is to strengthen the simplification of procedures, digitize customs clearance, and build smart border gates to minimize time and costs for businesses and people; at the same time, improve management capacity and control the flow of goods and people transparently and effectively.
Along with that, it is necessary to strengthen the connection of infrastructure and economic space at the border, promptly complete the planning for the development of transport infrastructure, digital infrastructure, and electricity infrastructure connecting border gates; create conditions for businesses of the two countries to invest in developing logistics, warehouses, and border trade centers; and study preferential policies to promote import and export through new border gates.
Fourthly, it is to strengthen regional connectivity and local cooperation, especially between Tay Ninh province and Prey Veng in building socio-economic development plans associated with border gate potential; promote cooperation in health, culture, education, trade, and tourism; promote people-to-people exchange; and support people in border areas to improve their material and spiritual lives.
The two sides will strengthen the role of businesses and industry associations of the two countries in proactively seeking cooperation opportunities and expanding investment; complying with local laws, ensuring product quality and social responsibility; maximizing advantages in agricultural products, processing, logistics services, and increasing investment in production, business and export in each country.
The Prime Minister said that the inauguration of the Tan Nam - Meun Chey international border gate will create a strong driving force for the two countries to soon complete the demarcation and marker planting for 16% of the unfinished border sections; at the same time, research and further develop other pairs of international border gates on the Vietnam - Cambodia land border, aiming to soon bring bilateral trade turnover to 20 billion USD as agreed by the two countries' senior leaders, contributing to the increasingly strong and sustainable development of the good neighborly relations, traditional friendship, comprehensive cooperation, and long-term sustainability between Vietnam and Cambodia.
Recalling the Vietnamese proverb “Trade opens the way, prosperity opens the way”, the Prime Minister expressed his belief that Tan Nam - Meun Chey border gate will become a model international border gate leading in digital transformation, smart, civilized, modern, bringing prosperity, warmth, and happiness to people in the border area, contributing to making the Vietnam - Cambodia border area truly become a “security belt - friendship bridge - growth engine - people's support” of the two countries and contributing to consolidating the environment of peace, stability, cooperation and rapid, sustainable development in the region.
Speaking at the event, Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Thipadei Hun Manet also said that the official operation of this pair of international border gates is a clear demonstration of the goodwill, unity in approach and determination to cooperate between Cambodia and Vietnam, joining hands to build a border of peace, friendship, cooperation and development, a border of trade, exchange of goods and services, a border of development, serving the lives of the people.
The Cambodian Prime Minister emphasized that the official operation of the pair of border gates and other synchronous supporting infrastructure will contribute to promoting the socio-economic development and social welfare of the people of the two countries in general and the two localities in particular. This is also another historic achievement in the development of relations and cooperation between Cambodia and Vietnam in all fields; with the desire to turn the border area into an area of opportunity for the people of the two countries. In the coming time, other international border gates will be upgraded or newly established, along with the infrastructure that has been and is being built and upgraded, which will serve and actively support production activities and connect cooperation, investment, tourism, the flow of goods, agricultural products, and people's travel.
The Cambodian Prime Minister requested relevant ministries, agencies, the Prey Veng provincial government of Cambodia and the Tay Ninh provincial government of Vietnam to continue working closely together, develop appropriate strategies and have specific plans to facilitate the flow of goods, services and business activities, especially in high-potential areas such as agriculture, agro-industry and processing industry for export; and at the same time prevent and combat cross-border crimes.
Prime Minister Hun Manet expressed his deep gratitude to the Government, Prime Minister and people of Vietnam for always preserving and fostering the good relationship and cooperation, in the spirit of "good neighborliness, traditional friendship, comprehensive cooperation, long-term sustainability" for the benefit of the two countries and peoples; believing that the two sides will continue to maintain the good traditional friendship and close cooperation for generations to come.
* On this occasion, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet cut the ribbon to inaugurate the Tan Nam - Meun Chey friendship bridge between the two countries.
Source: https://baotintuc.vn/thoi-su/thu-tuong-pham-minh-chinh-va-thu-tuong-campuchia-du-khai-truong-cap-cua-khau-quoc-te-tan-nam-meun-chey-20251208120416157.htm
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