An Giang (VNA) – The Mekong Delta province ofAn Giang and Cambodia’s Kandal province held a conference in Long Xuyen city onSeptember 10 to review their cooperation since the beginning of the year andsketch out plans for the rest of 2019.

Addressing the event, Chairman of the People’s Committee ofAn Giang Nguyen Thanh Binh said that over the years, hospitals in the borderarea of An Giang have treated more than 2,000 Cambodian patients.

The two localities have shared information and helped eachother enhance capacity in supervising and preventing communicable diseases.

On the occasion, Binh thanked Kandal Governor Mao Phirun andKandal authorities for supporting Team K90 of Vietnam in searching for andrepatriating remains of Vietnamese soldiers who died in Cambodia. Since 2018,the team has collected and repatriated 24 sets of remains, he noted.

For his part, Kandal Governor Mao Phirun said the partnershipbetween the two localities has expanded to cover many areas such as economy,culture and society.

He proposed An Giang invest in building a new bridge toconnect Nhon Hoi commune of An Phu district with Kandal province across Binh Dicanal, making it easier for locals of both sides to travel.

Authorities of the two sides should work closely inpreventing illegal sand exploitation in border rivers as well as combating criminalsalong the border.

For the rest of the year, the two sides will continuecoordinating to ensure security and order along the border, while authoritiesof both sides will strengthen communications on laws among border communities,they agreed.

An Giang and Kandal will also coordinate in managing entryand exit activities in auxiliary border gates, while creating favourableconditions for road and waterway travel, and closely controlling vehicle andgoods transport through the border.

Alongside, the two sides will continue affiliating with the jointcommittee on land demarcation and marker planting of Vietnam and Cambodia tospeed up the planting of border markers along the border.

The two localities will cooperate in preventing river bank erosionto protect border markers, while supporting each other in trade promotion and formingbanks in border areas to facilitate border trade.

They will allow locals to use water in rivers and canalsalong the border for farming, share information on the environment and waterlevels in rivers and canal, and provide optimal conditions for trade exchange.

Kandal will continue building a good transshipment centre inChrey Thom international border gate and other border gates, while An Giangwill finalise procedures for the upgrade of Vinh Xuong-Kaomsomnor and KhanhBinh border gates to international ones, as well as the opening of twoauxiliary border gates of Khanh An-Prek Chrey Prek Tonle and Vat Lai-Prek Sbov./.