About the border...

Mr. Le Hoan Nhan, a tourist from Can Tho to Tinh Bien market said, "I love this place."

Imprint of Tinh Bien market

“Yes, purchasing power is not very good,” a salesman about 17-18 years old, with a friendly smile, softly and politely answered the customer's question.

Tinh Bien Market has about 210 business households, with over 540 kiosks. It is said that in the first 6 months of 2024, the town welcomed more than 2 million visitors to visit and shop, with revenue reaching over 204 billion VND. The Tinh Bien - An Giang International Trade Fair 2024 alone had revenue of over 10 billion VND, attracting more than 170,000 visitors, more than the population of Tinh Bien.

Leaving Tinh Bien market full of goods, let alone domestic and foreign goods, there is clearly a gathering, concentration, abundance, and diversity; the sellers are open, friendly, and "enthusiastic" even though their purchasing power is not very good. Foreign goods account for a large quantity, but domestic goods are also quite numerous. Especially local goods. That is the solid three-legged structure of the market formed in the early 19th century.

Tinh Bien - first the Nghe Thuong song, then the Six Demons - is associated with the period when King Ang Chan II donated the three regions of Chan Sum, Mat Luat and Loi Kha Bat to the Nguyen Dynasty through the Jade Marquis Nguyen Van Thoai. The Nguyen Dynasty only received the lands of Chan Sum and Mat Luat, then divided Chan Sum into Ha Am and Ha Duong belonging to Tinh Bien prefecture (Tinh Bien), belonging to Ha Tien town. The place name Tinh Bien appeared since 1832, when King Minh Mang divided the five towns into six provinces, Tinh Bien prefecture belonged to Ha Tien province.

In the second year of Thieu Tri (1842), Tinh Bien prefecture and Ha Duong district of Ha Tien merged into Ha Tien province. In the third year of Tu Duc (1850), Tinh Bien prefecture was dissolved, and Ha Am and Ha Duong districts were merged into Tuy Bien prefecture. "Did the ancients also separate and merge so much?" - many tourists. Tourists from far away are interested in hearing old stories. They also like the present when foreign goods are cheap here. People on the other side of the border, hundreds of kilometers away from Phnom Penh, like the whole market because they can buy goods from Vietnam, everything is available. That is the typical mark of the border market, both domestic and foreign.

Tourist reception point "Tan Chau Long" of Mr. Le Van Tho.

The brightly lit fish sauce stalls in the market are the mainstay of this market. The good thing about the vendors here is that if you don’t buy anything from them, but if you need to find something, they will immediately show you the way to the stalls you need, very cheerful and friendly. A vendor said that the Tinh Bien border economic zone used to be bustling when there was a duty-free store in the duty-free zone. Honestly, at that time, the Tinh Bien traditional market was overshadowed by the supermarket where you could buy duty-free goods. However, when the duty-free store closed, the vendors were not happy because the “border lighting effect” for a new game quickly faded away.

An Giang province proposed to develop Tinh Bien International Border Gate Logistics Center, with an investment of 239 billion VND to attract investment into the border gate economic zone and promote growth. The algorithm was taken into account, including persistently defending the project to submit to UNESCO so that the Ba Chua Xu Festival can be recognized as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity, along with efforts to turn natural and artificial habitats into a magnet attracting businessmen and residents on both sides of the border, becoming a vibrant highlight in the border economic zone.

“We hope to have a seminar on border trade economics, not only in An Giang but also in localities sharing the Vietnam-Cambodia border in the Southwest region,” said Chairman of An Giang Provincial People's Committee Ho Van Mung at the Mekong Connect Forum 2024.

Tan Chau Gateway

The sun is up, enjoying the gentle breeze blowing from the Tien River. Panning around the billboard, from Tan Chau looking towards Hong Ngu - a picture appears with a bustling city growing up along the riverbank; boats passing by the waterway connecting to the Kingdom of Cambodia.

The connection is becoming more detailed, Hong Ngu is investing in upgrading and expanding provincial road 841 connecting the center of Hong Ngu city with Thuong Phuoc international border gate economic zone; Hong Ngu - Tan Chau ferry is being expanded and upgraded; Cai Vung bridge project, Muong Lon ferry, Long Khanh B ferry through An Thanh ward and Muong Mieu ferry through Tan Chau (An Giang province) ... are calling for investment.

Feasting his eyes on BOKE Coffee, a chain of coffee shops and beverage shops along the embankment from Chau Doc to Tan Chau - out to the vast river, Mr. Le Van Tho, in his seventies, owner of Tan Chau Long, a tourist attraction for weaving mats and crafting handicrafts from uzu, sedge, and sedge... said that in his old age, he is happy to see tourists from all over the world coming to his hometown, entering the weaving village, and shopping at the market. Especially, foreign tourists - mostly elderly people - looking for similar and different cultural imprints and "wow" at the unexpected creativity in exploiting resources from plants and fruits to create unique silk such as My A silk, mats, handbags, and sophisticated and sharp dining table decorations from uzu and sedge.

The vast Tien River.

Tan Chau town has shifted its economic structure - strongly focusing on trade and services (accounting for 60.74% of the economic structure). Tan Chau market has a total retail sales of goods and revenue from food and accommodation services in the area estimated at over 7,800 billion VND. Retail sales of goods and social consumption in Tan Chau town increased by an average of 11.42% annually", the average income per capita (household) in 2023 reached over 68 million VND/person/year. In 2021, Tan Chau market alone contributed over 3.1 billion VND to the budget.

In 2022, Tan Chau Town People's Committee set many goals: Total retail sales of goods and consumer service revenue in the area reached over 11,000 billion VND; average income per capita reached over 65 million VND/year; total state budget revenue from the local economy reached nearly 600 billion VND...

Outside the market is a jewelry store - gold shining in the midday sun - everyone understands that buying and selling is much more difficult now than before because everywhere there are markets, shopping malls, modern distribution channels... a network stretched thinly covering the market. "There is no difference, it is very difficult to sell", the traders said. The fish sauce stall owner Tu Du - a friend in Chau Phong told her to go to the market to find this place to buy Vinh Chao carp fish sauce with rice wine and palm sugar - this difference has been maintained for 3 generations.

Opposite Tu Du stall, famous for its fermented fish sauce, is the “Cham - Trinh” stall selling dried fish. This young couple has just given birth to a baby boy who is sleeping soundly in his mother’s arms. Trinh is busy with the dried fish stall and says with a smile, “Buying and selling at the market is so complicated.”

Many famous salted fish from Nam Vang weigh 5-7kg, dried catfish from Tonle Sap Lake are puffed up golden and processed to Vietnamese tastes. These are the dishes that Cham helps his wife take care of while answering the phone and sending the goods by courier every day. The local buyers are usually tourists, the goods bought online - sending by courier is the only way to make up for the difference. No matter how you buy and sell online, delivery is still the most important thing. Fortunately, Tan Chau has a shipping company that delivers goods to the Eastern region, Cham said.

The vendor sells Rum Duol, Khakanhay, Soc rice mixed with ruby ​​rice, bird's claw, Thai sticky rice, Nang Hoa, "ta" dragon's blood, Thai dragon's blood... You can buy 1kg, many types for the whole family to eat for a month, and the shipper will deliver to your place; if you live far away, you can send it by post. That's the difference compared to the past.

Vinh Xuong border gate was designated as an international river border gate in 1995, and will officially become an international border gate merged from river and road border gates in 2023. From here, it connects to Kaorm Samnor of the Kingdom of Cambodia by river. In 2010, the import-export turnover through this border gate was about 500 million USD. After the pandemic, the import-export turnover was nearly 700 million USD.

An Giang province has a border of nearly 100km, adjacent to Kandal and Takeo provinces of the Kingdom of Cambodia; including 2 international border gates: Tinh Bien and Vinh Xuong; 2 main border gates: Khanh Binh, Vinh Hoi Dong and 1 secondary border gate: Bac Dai.

In 2024, about 9.1 million tourists, total revenue from tourism activities of An Giang is about 10,250 billion VND, an increase of 73.73% over the same period. According to the project, Kien Giang and An Giang provinces will be merged into a new province with a natural area of ​​9,888.9 km2 and a population of 3,679,200 people. An Giang - Kien Giang, Dong Thap - Tien Giang, Tay Ninh - Long An, when merged into new provinces, will expand the border economic space from the West to the East.

The smokeless industry of An Giang - Kien Giang with many unprecedented advantages - the space for borderless creativity from the plains, mountains, and islands - is opening up although there are still algorithmic challenges and complaints when talking about placing toll stations in the Sam Mountain national tourist area.

The new direction will be good music, the border people believe.

Article and photos: CHAU LAN

Source: https://baocantho.com.vn/ve-vung-bien--a186370.html