Vietnam worries that a vast inland waterway planned by its neighbour Cambodia could disrupt the flows of the Mekong, a river of immense economic and ecological importance to the region.
In a meeting on September 13 with the President of the National Assembly of Cambodia Samdech Heng Samrin, who is visiting Vietnam, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh suggested that the two sides further improve the efficiency of their economic cooperation. In the first seven months of this year, two-way trade turnover reached more than $7 billion, up 17.8 per cent year-on-year. Vietnam currently has 188 investment projects in Cambodia with total registered capital of $2.8 billion, ranking it first in ASEAN.