Takeo Governor Kep Chuktema led a 30-member delegation to meet with their Vietnamese counterparts last weekend to talk about border disputes.
In 1999, seven Vietnamese and 16 Cambodians were killed because of land disagreements along the roughly 650-km border, according to figures from the Ministry of Interior.
Kep Chuktema said Monday that he and Ang Giang Provincial governor Le Phu Hoy talked about incidents of Vietnamese farmers encroaching on Cambodian land more than a month ago, resulting in a standoff between Cambodian soldiers and Vietnamese armed civil guards.
“We just want both sides to have respect for a joint agreement that demands that residents stay in their designated country,” Kep Chuktema said.
He added that similar meetings will be held every six months.
Ith Sarun, a Takeo agricultural official, said he talked to Vietnamese officials about buying pesticides to more effectively control the outbreak of rice-eating pests that plague crops on both sides of the border.
