Agreed Minutes of the First Meeting of the Cambodian - Vietnamese
Joint Commission for Economic, Cultural, Scientific and Technical Cooperation

(Hanoi, 8 - 10 September, 1995)  

In accordance with the Agreement on the Establishment of the Joint Commission on Economic, Cultural, Scientific and Technical Cooperation, and the agreement between the Government of the Kingdom of Cambodia and the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, the First Meeting of the Joint Commission was held in Hanoi on 8 - 10 September, 1995.

The Cambodian Delegation was led by H.E. Mr. Ung Huot, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the Vietnamese Delegation was led by H.E. Mr. Nguyen Manh Cam, Minister of Foreign Affairs. The lists of the two delegations appear as Annexes A and B.  

The Meeting was held in Plenary and adopted the Agenda which appears as Annex C.  

The Meeting was conducted in an atmosphere of friendship and mutual understanding. The leaders of the two delegations expressed their confidence that the success of this Meeting would contribute to further consolidation and strengthening of the traditional friendly relations and good neighbourly cooperation between Cambodia and Vietnam.

A.   BILATERAL ISSUES:
1.   Tourism:  

The two sides welcomed the signing of the Agreement on Tourism Cooperation and would try to ensure the good implementation of this Agreement so as to promote mutually beneficial cooperation in this field.  

2.   Education and Training:

(a)  The two sides welcomed the signing of the Protocol on Educational Cooperation between the Ministry of Education and Training of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Kingdom of Cambodia. Pursuant to this Protocol, the Vietnamese side will continue to assist Cambodia in developing her human resources and will provide the Cambodian side with 50 scholarships on average annually from 1996 to 2000.

For the academic year of 1995 - 1996, the Cambodian side proposed to send 56 students to Vietnam. The Vietnamese side agreed to this proposal.

At the same time, the Vietnamese side agreed to accept unlimited number of Cambodian students to study in Vietnam at their own expenses or with the funding of international organizations or by The Cambodian Government in order to assist human resources development in Cambodia.

(b)  The Cambodian side highly appreciated the good training provided so far by Vietnam to Cambodian students as well as Vietnam's decision to continue training Cambodian students in Vietnam.  

3.   Aviation:  

The two sides welcomed the initial of the Aviation Transportation Agreement between the two countries and agreed to an early signing of this Agreement, thus contributing positively to the strengthening of Vietnam- Cambodia cooperation in the economic, trade and tourism areas.

4.   Transit of goods:

(a)  The two sides agreed to abide by the Agreement on the Transit of goods signed on 3 April, 1995 as well as the Protocol on the Amendments and Additions to some of its articles signed on 18 January, 1995.

The Cambodian side highly appreciated the efforts so far undertaken by Vietnamese side to create favourable conditions for the transit of Cambodian goods through the Vietnamese territory.  

The Cambodian side proposed that the Vietnamese side simplifies further the formalities applied for the transit of imported and exported goods that are prohibited by the Vietnamese side but are allowed by the Cambodian side.

The Cambodian side requested the Vietnamese side to put strong emphasis on the facilitation of the direct transit of goods along the Mekong River-Tien River. The Vietnamese side would refer these proposals to the relevant authorities for consideration.

(b)  The two sides agreed on the opening of Tinh Bien (An Giang province) - Phnom Den (Ta Keo province) border gate as another border gate for the transit of goods.  

 

(c)  The two sides agreed to review their own laws, regulations and procedures in order to further facilitate trade activities between the two countries and to speed up the integration of their national economics into the regional and global economics.  

5.   Energy:

(a)  The Vietnamese side agreed in principle to sell electricity to Cambodia as requested. The Cambodian side appreciated this goodwill decision of the Vietnamese side.  

 

(b)  In this connection, the two sides agreed to ask the concerned authorities of the two countries to hold detailed discussions on the price and other technical matters so that an early agreement on this issue can be concluded.  

6.   Communication and Transport:

(a)  In line with the Agreement on Cooperation for the Sustainable Development of the Mekong River Basin signed on 5 April 1995 which provides for freedom of navigation on the mainstream of the Mekong River (Tien River), the two sides agreed that the vertical air clearance of the My Thuan Bridge over the Tien River shall be 37.5 metres. The Cambodian side expressed its sincere thanks to the Vietnamese side for the acceptance of the above-mentioned vertical air clearance.  

 

(b)  The two sides agreed on the necessity of developing the cooperative relations in this field and also agreed to conduct negotiations so as to sign soon an Agreement on Land Transportation between the two countries. In this regard, the Vietnamese side handed over a Draft of this Agreement in Vietnamese language to the Cambodian side for further discussions.  

 

(c)  Both sides affirmed their willingness to continue their cooperation in participating in the Sub-Regional Cooperation Program sponsored by the Asian Development Bank, to jointly carry out the feasibility study of a Trans-Asia Highway project which links Bangkok - Phnom Penh - Ho Chi Minh City and VungTau.

7.    Forestry:

(a)  Both sides noted with satisfaction their good cooperation in recent years and agreed to further strengthen their cooperation in this field.

 

(b)  The two sides agreed to assign the Ministry of Forestry of The Vietnam and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery of Cambodia to hold further discussions so as to settle the remaining quantity of logs left along the border area as well as the sale of the Cambodian old and stunted rubber timber to Vietnam.  

8.   Agriculture, Fishery and Irrigation:

Both sides have agreed to entrust the concerned authorities of the two countries to exchange delegations, carry out actual surveys and research and to make recommendations and concrete proposals for the promotion of co-operation in the fields of agriculture, fishery and irrigation.

9.   Finance:

In order to advance the co-operation in the finance and banking sectors and to settle the related outstanding issues, both sides agreed to assign the Ministries of Finance of the two countries to meet and hold detailed discussion.

10.  Post and Telecommunications:  

(a)  Both sides emphasised the necessity to widen co-operation between the two countries in the field of post and telecommunications.

 

(b)  Both sides welcomed the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between Vietnam's General Directorate of Post and Telecommunications and Cambodia's Ministry of Post and Telecommunications, and agreed to facilitate the implementation of this MOU.  

11.  Culture, Information:  

The two sides share the views that the promotion of cooperation between the two countries in the fields of culture, information are in conformity with the interests and aspirations of the two peoples. Both sides reaffirmed their desire to intensify their cooperation in these areas.  

In this spirit, The Vietnamese side welcomed the visit of Cambodia's Minister of Culture and Minister of Information to Vietnam. The Cambodian side welcomed the visit of Vietnam's Minister of Culture and Information to Cambodia.  

12.   Border:  

(a)  The two sides reaffirmed their desire to build the common border of the two countries into a border of lasting peace, friendship and stability.  

 

(b)  The two sides agreed to conduct negotiations and to conclude soon the Protocol on Cultural Cooperation and the Protocol on Information Cooperation between the two countries in the near future.  

In this spirit, the two sides agreed to convene the First Meeting of the Expert working group on the border issues between the two countries in Phnom Penh in the fourth quarter of 1995. Pending the solution for the outstanding border issues the two sides agreed to maintain the present management as agreed by the Prime Minister of Vietnam and the First Prime Minister of Cambodia in January 1995, no changing or moving of border markers and to educate and prevent their people from carrying out cross border cultivation or resettlement and to cooperate in maintaining border security and order. The two sides agreed to allow local authorities to meet and take arrangements aimed at maintaining security and stability in the border areas.

13.   Vietnamese nationals in Cambodia:

The two sides acknowledged the positive results of' the second round of the Working group meeting on Vietnamese nationals in July 1995 and agreed to conduct the third round of talks on Vietnamese nationals in October 1995 in Phnom Penh with a view to reaching an early solution for the Vietnamese nationals issue in Cambodia in conformity with the high level agreements between the two countries stipulated in the Joint Communiques issued in August 1993, April 1994,January 1995 and August 1995.

14.   Consular relations:  

The two sides agreed to conclude the Consular Agreement between the two countries by the end of 1995.  

15.   The two sides welcomed the cooperation between the two capitals, Hanoi and Phnom Penh.  

B.    Date and Venue of the Second Meeting of the Joint Commission:

Both sides agreed that the Second Meeting of the Joint Commission would be convened in Phnom Penh, the Kingdom of Cambodia on a mutually agreed date to be determined through diplomatic channels.

C.   The Cambodian Delegation expressed its appreciation to Vietnamese side for the warm welcome and hospitality as well as the excellent arrangements in organizing the Meeting.

Hanoi, 9 September, 1995

            UNG HUOT                                                                                     NGUYEN MANH CAM 
Minister of Foreign Affairs and                                                               Minister of Foreign Affairs
   International Cooperation                                                                Socialist Republic of Vietnam