Southwest border: petrol outflowing, sugar inflowing

VietNamNet Bridge – The southwest border these days is witnessing petrol outflowing to neighbouring Cambodia and sugar inflowing into Vietnam.

Petrol bleeding through border gate

Petrol is being carried on this boat to Cambodia

In An Giang province, tens of petrol shops can be seen along the 2km stretch of river in the area of Khanh Binh border gate. On the river, a lot of lighters, full of petrol cans, wait to go across the river to Prekchray, Kohthom, Kan Dal in Cambodia. A lot of people can be seen queuing in front of filling stations to pump petrol into the plastic cans they will carry across the border gate.

Le Van Cu, a farmer in An Phu district in An Giang province, complained that he could not buy oil to run the pumping machine to water his field. “They (the petrol shops) only want to sell petrol to dealers, who pay higher prices,” he said.

At the Tinh Bien border gate, every truck which carries goods to Vietnam picks up about tens cans of oil on the way back home.

In Kien Luong district in Kien Giang province, filling stations here do not open in the daylight, but the stations are full of people in the afternoon, the suitable time for petrol smugglers. Plastic cans of oil are loaded onto boats, bicycles and motorbikes, which head for Ton Hol, Kampot province in Cambodia.

Kien Giang Market Control Taskforce said that several smuggling cases were discovered last week, including one where the taskforce found 3,440 litres of DO oil gathered in Vinh Dieu commune, ready to be carried to Cambodia.

Along the So Thuong River in Hong Ngu district in Dong Thap province, tens of filling stations are always busy selling petrol to smugglers, who carry the petrol to Prey Veng. DO oil is now selling at riel4,000/litre in Prey Veng, or VND16,500/litre.

Vietnam is the main petrol supply source for Cambodia’s border provinces. It is because the retail price in Vietnam is always lower than in Cambodia. Moreover, the retail network in Cambodia has not developed.

Sugar flocking to Vietnam

While petrol is ‘escaping’ Vietnam, sugar is inflowing into the country. Storehouses in Cambodia are reportedly full of Thai sugar, ready to head to Vietnam. Smuggled sugar always gathers in Chau Doc commune before being carried to provinces and cities in the south of Vietnam.

At Tinh Bien border gate, trucks queue to wait for consignments from Thalot. Tan Chau market in An Giang province, Hong Ngu market in Dong Thap are also places for transiting smuggled sugar. Many markets in the Cuu Long River Delta are selling Thai sugar at VND8,500-9,000/kg, while no domestic product is available at the markets.

According to the Vietnam Sugar and Sugarcane Association, some 300 tonnes of sugar are illegally imported across the southwest border everyday. In Vietnam, Thai sugar is packed as locally made product before it is carried to other localities for distribution.

“Though we know that it is illegal, we cannot seize the product because businessmen show the package of domestic product and bills,” said Giang Lam, Deputy Head of Tinh Bien Customs Agency.

(Source: Tuoi tre)