Cambodia pulls out of border deal with Vietnam, Laos
PHNOM PENH — Cambodia has withdrawn from a decades-old regional economic development deal with Vietnam and Laos, Prime Minister Hun Manet said, in a surprise concession to critics concerned about the kingdom losing territory to its neighbors.
The 25-year-old Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam Development Triangle Area (CLV-DTA) agreement has been the focus of online criticism and overseas protests in recent months.
Weaponized
In a statement posted to his Facebook page late Friday night, Hun Manet said Cambodia had decided to pull out of the deal, and that both Vietnam and Laos had been notified of the decision.
He accused “extremists” of using the deal as “a political weapon” to attack his administration by alleging it had ceded parts of four northeastern provinces to foreign countries.
“Taking into account people’s concerns about territory… we have decided that Cambodia ends the participation in the (CLV-DTA) from Sept. 20, 2024 onwards,” Hun Manet said.
The deal inked in 1999 was aimed at boosting economic development and trade between Cambodia’s northeastern provinces and neighboring ones in Laos and Vietnam.
Some opposition activists and Cambodian people living overseas had recently expressed concerns that the deal could unfairly benefit foreign interests.
Last month, Cambodians in countries including South Korea, Japan, France, Canada, Australia and the United States held protests against the deal and demanded the government withdraw.
