Phnom Penh(VNA) – Active coordination and the maintenance of regular and irregular meetingshave allowed border localities of Vietnam and Cambodia to deploy reachedagreements efficiently, helping maintain security and stability in the sharedborder.

It was remarked at the ninth Conference on Cooperation and Development ofVietnamese and Cambodian border provinces co-chaired by Vietnam’s Deputy PrimeMinister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh and Cambodia’s Deputy PrimeMinister and Minister of Home Affairs Samdech Sar Kheng in Phnom Penh, Cambodiaon March 15.

Since the eighth meeting in October 2015, the friendship and all-facetedcooperation between the two countries have continuously developed, the twosides noted.

Local officials paidregular visits while localities have assisted each other in building roads,training human resources, exchanging high-yield plants, providing healthcareservices, and conducting cultural and sports activities.

Such activities enabled both sides to address arising issues and enhance theirfriendship, solidarity, cooperation and mutual assistance, the participants said.

They agreed to further boost the links between ministries, sectors, andlocalities, continue implementing reached agreements actively, fine-tune mechanismsand policies encouraging cross-border trade, and make it easier for respectiveinvestments.

The localities will work together in agriculture, forestry and fishery,healthcare, and human resources training, and pay heed to upgrading transport infrastructureand border trade areas.

They said they will speed up the land border demarcation and the planting ofborder markers while pledging to not allow any hostile force to use the one’s territoryto sabotage security and stability in the other.

The localities agreed to reinforce cooperation to protect security, keepstability and order along the shared border while timely deterring and combatingtransnational crimes.

More people-to-peopleexchanges will be organized, as will education for border people, especiallythe youth, so to help them to understand the importance of preserving andfostering the traditional friendship, solidarity and mutual assistance for therespective interests.

Deputy PMs Pham Binh Minh and Samdech Sar Kheng asked ministries, sectors andborder localities of the two countries to work more closely in carrying outdevised measures to improve the efficiency of their cooperation, continue maintainpolitical security and social order, improve locals’ living standards, andbuilding the borderline of peace, friendship, cooperation and development.

During theconference, ministries, sectors and border localities had separate meetings toseek specific cooperative measures.

The two sides issued a joint statement at the end of the conference.-VNA