Cambodian People’s Party chairman Hun Sen has announced the country’s withdrawal from the Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam Development Triangle Area ( CLV-DTA ), a trilateral arrangement that he himself initiated in 1999.

The announcement on September 20 followed two months of unsubstantiated claims by opposition activists – mainly Cambodians living abroad – that the country was ceding territory to its neighbours.   

 “Extremists have used this as a political weapon to slander and attack the government by constantly lying to the people, and making people confused,” the party leader says, noting that they have also incited anti-government protests, both at home and abroad.

‘Put out the fire completely’

Hun Sen, the former prime minister who retired last year in favour of his son Hun Manet,  says he wants to “not sit and stop the smoke, but put out the fire completely”.

He says Cambodia will continue to develop its remote northeast provinces in the triangle area – Kratie, Mondulkiri, Ratanakkiri and Stung Treng – through mechanisms like the Asian Development Bank’s Greater Mekong Subregion ( GMS ) Economic Cooperation Programme. 

Established in 1992, the GMS programme covers Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. In addition, China, Japan, South Korea and the United States have their own cooperation frameworks with the other five Mekong countries.

Hun Sen, who now serves as speaker of the Cambodian Senate, says a Border Infrastructure Development Fund announced by Prime Minister Hun Manet in August will focus on building roads in areas bordering Laos and Vietnam.

“Extremists are likely to declare their victory,” says the party leader. “However, they will lose an important weapon used to attack the Royal Government.

“Moreover, the success of the Cambodian People’s Party stems from solving people’s concerns and knowing how to remove weapons from the hands of the enemy.”

Other joint development areas

Joint development areas have a long history among members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ( Asean ) dating back 35 years.

In 1989, Singapore’s then deputy prime minister Goh Chock Tong initiated a “growth triangle” with the Indonesian island of Batam and the Malaysian state of Johor.

The timing was not a coincidence. The success of China’s special economic zones – initially Shantou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai in Guangdong province and Xiamen in Fujian province – were starting to attract international attention.  

At the same time, Japanese investment – emboldened by a soaring yen – was starting to flood the rest of East Asia, notably the “little dragons” of Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan ( later known as the “tiger economies” ). 

In addition to these “newly industrializing economies”, Thailand loomed large on the Japanese radar screen – especially carmakers seeking cheaper manufacturing bases abroad.  As the biggest recipient of Japanese aid, Indonesia was another magnet.

So, it was not long before the Indonesia-Malaysia-Singapore Growth Triangle was being replicated elsewhere in Asean.

In 1993, Malaysia’s then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad came up with a similar idea. Indonesia’s then President Suharto and Thailand’s then Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai endorsed it and the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle was born.

The third initiative in 1994 involved four countries and is known as the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asean Growth Area.

With Laos joining Asean in 1997 and Cambodia two years later, the idea for a similar arrangement in remote provinces of the former French Indochina seemed only natural.

‘Mandate has reached its objectives’

According to Cambodia’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister Sok Chenda Sophea, the Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam Development Triangle Area “achieved significant milestones” since being formalized in 2004.

But “we have concluded that the cooperation mandate has reached its objectives”, he wrote in a letter to his Lao and Vietnamese counterparts dated September 20 – coinciding with Hun Sen’s announcement.

“At this point, we believe that each country is fully capable of continuing and ensuring the development of its respective nation independently.”

Trilateral parliamentary framework concluded

In a separate letter to the speakers of the Lao and Vietnamese parliaments, Cambodian National Assembly speaker Khuon Sudary announced the conclusion of the Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam Parliamentary Cooperation Framework.

“We deeply appreciate the tangible outcomes of our trilateral cooperation, which have positively impacted the livelihood of our peoples, particularly those residing in the border provinces,” she writes.

“We remain committed to fostering and expanding our traditional friendship and collaboration through bilateral frameworks and other multilateral mechanisms.”

As party leader and speaker of the Senate, Hun Sen sits at the top of Cambodia’s political hierarchy, which is similar to those in Laos and Vietnam. The National Assembly speaker ranks next followed by the prime minister.

In comments to the Khmer Times published on September 23, Thong Mendavid, a lecturer in international studies and public policy at the Royal University of Phnom Penh, highlights the domestic political nature of the withdrawal, downplaying any regional economic impact.

“CLV-DTA has a similar nature or has some overlap initiatives and projects with regional mechanisms in Asean … that focus on development infrastructure and socio-economic development along the borders of these countries,” he is quoted as saying.