PHNOM PENH, May 27, 2013 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and
Foreign Minister Hor Namhong will meet with his Thai counterpart
Surapong Tovichakchaikul on June 11 here to discuss ways to promote
development cooperation along the border of the two countries, officials
said Monday.
The two ministers will meet at the 9th Joint
Commission for Bilateral Cooperation between Cambodia and Thailand, Long
Visalo, secretary of state at Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
said after an internal meeting to prepare agendas and documents for the
upcoming meeting.
"A number of issues will be discussed in the
forthcoming meeting to boost bilateral cooperation along the border," he
told reporters. "Among those are the issues concerning laborers,
illegal cross-border logging, mine clearance, epidemic fight,
cross-border trade and investment, new border opening, and road
connectivity development."
Speaking at the meeting on Monday, Hor
Namhong said the upcoming meeting was intended to further promote
cooperation between the two countries, particularly cooperation along
the boundary in order to build a border of peace and economic
development.
Cambodia and Thailand have had sporadic border
conflicts over territorial dispute near Cambodia's Preah Vihear Temple
since UNESCO listed the temple as a World Heritage Site on July 7, 2008,
as Thailand claims the ownership of a 4.6-square-km scrub next to the
temple.
Deadly clashes between the two sides' troops happened in
February and April 2011 during the rule of former Thai Prime Minister
Abhisit Vejjajiva.
Military tensions have eased since August 2011
when ex-Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's Pheu Thai Party won a
general election and led the current government.
Last month, the
two countries delivered their oral statements on the dispute to the
World Court in the Netherlands and the court is expected to issue a
decision on who owns the disputed land around the temple later this
year.
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