Members of the Lao and Cambodian Joint Border Technical Sub-commissions stand alongside a border marker in Champassak province. - Photo: Vientiane Times/ANN
VIENTIANE: The Joint Border Technical Sub-commissions of Laos and Cambodia met in Khong district, Champassak province, last week to review the progress of boundary demarcation.
The Lao delegation was led by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and President of the Laos-Cambodia Joint Border Technical Sub-Commission, Phongsavanh Sisoulath.
The Lao-Cambodian border survey and demarcation team reviewed the placement of border markers, which has been underway since May 2023.
The team has identified 209 border marker locations, representing 40 percent of the total 510 agreed-upon sites.
To date, 172 markers (33 percent) of the total 510 have been installed in line with the agreement made between the two sides.
Construction of the Global Positioning System (GPS) base coordinate network has been completed by both sides, with the installation of base coordinate boxes at two locations on the Lao side of the border and two on the Cambodian side.
They have also jointly made coordinate measurements and connected them to the Asia-Pacific Geodetic Centre.
The team has finished constructing the first level of basic coordinate boxes, at 10 locations on the Lao side of the border and 10 on the Cambodian side.
They have also completed measuring the grid coordinates using a dual-wavelength instrument, in preparation for measuring the coordinates of the new border markers.
The team has finished installing 28 of the second level basic coordinate boxes along the Lao-Cambodian border, and both sides are currently measuring the coordinates to finalise them for use in a survey to gather detailed geographical data along the border.
In 2023, the Joint Technical Sub-commissions of Laos and Cambodia in charge of boundary demarcation met in Sihanoukville province, Cambodia, to discuss the installation of border markers.
The two parties said they highly appreciated the progress made in border demarcation, with their shared boundary now more clearly defined.
Laos and Cambodia signed border demarcation agreements under the Convention on the Delineation of the Two Countries’ Shared Border in February 2023.
These agreements require the bilateral border committees to continue to identify border demarcation sites and install more markers.
The installation of new border posts is aimed at making the boundary between Laos and Cambodia more sustainable, identifiable, and easy to regulate, as well as clearly defining the border for easy recognition by people living in the area. - Vientiane Times/ANN
