Cambodia: Cross-border rail transport agreement to be delayed

• Dec 17, 2018

Cambodia continues to wait on Thai officials to be ready to sign the agreement on cross-border rail transportation, with the upcoming elections in Thailand likely to delay the process even further, according to a Cambodian public official.

Both countries already concluded negotiations on the issue of the cross-border transport of goods and people, however the signing of the deal is still pending.

Ly Borin, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Public Works, said, “The government already gave authorisation to my ministry to sign the agreement, but we are still waiting on our Thai counterparts to tell us they are ready.”

“We were supposed to sign the agreement within the month, but we didn’t hear from them because they are waiting on their National Assembly to endorse the agreement,” he said.

Mr Borin said the signing of the agreement might be delayed further since Thailand is holding general elections next year.

“We need to sign it soon as it will aid the development of our logistics and transportation sector and boost bilateral trade, however Thailand is holding elections soon and we are not sure they will be ready to sign it before the polls.”

Renovation work on the western rail line, which covers 386 kilometres and connects the capital with the Thai border, officially concluded in July, making it operational for the first since it was destroyed during the country’s civil war.

Bilateral trade reached $7 billion during the first nine months of the year, already exceeding total trade figures in 2017. This expansion in trade is the result of the commitment by both governments to reach $15 billion in trade by 2020.

Source: https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50559864/cross-border-rail-transport-agreement-to-be-delayed/