To the 20 million residents of the Mekong Delta
for so long do not have the right to have a voice
To the Friends of the Mekong
NGO THE VINH
Introduction:The Vietnam Mekong River Commission announced that it will hold a consultation meeting on April 23, 2024 in Can Tho city on the Funan Techo Canal Project. Viet Ecology Foundation would like to introduce an article by Dr. Ngo The Vinh about this controversial project. He was the one who sounded the warning bell very early on about the dangers of hydroelectric dams upstream of the Mekong River, has written many essays and is the author of two books: The Nine Dragons Drained Dry, The East Sea in Turmoil (2000) and Mekong The Occluding River (2007). He is also known as a persistent environmental activist for nearly 30 years, with a concern for protecting the ecosystem of the Mekong River and the Mekong Delta.
Figure 1: Where Does the Future Go? A man holds a plastic container over his head as he walks through a dry lake in Ben Tre province on March 19, 2024. The image of a Mekong Delta with many places where the soil is cracked, dry and salty, the rivers and canals are dry, and the entire Mekong Delta, the most fertile in the world, is being desertified and may disintegrate in the near future. [source RFA]
TIME ORDER OF FUNAN TECHO PROJECT
_ May 19, 2023: Two months before leaving the Prime Minister's position, Mr. Hun Sen chaired a cabinet meeting to make a decision on "The Tonle Bassac Navigation and Logistics System Project," also known as Funan Techo Canal with an initial plan put in place including budget, structure and implementation timeframe. The project was approved by the entire Cambodian National Assembly during its 6th session and then on June 7, 2023, the Cambodian Government decided to establish an Inter-Ministerial Committee to implement the Funan Techo Canal project.
_ August 8, 2023: The Government of Cambodia sent to the MRC Mekong River Commission Secretariat Notification on the Funan Techo Canal Project. The canal is 180 km long, 10 m wide, 5.4 m deep, with 11 bridges, and 208 km of roadway and later changed to side walk; the canal has 3 ship locks to control water levels and water discharge, at 3.6 m3/second daily average - and CB believes that the canal will not affect the flow of the Mekong River [ sic]. The inland waterway project for 1,000 DWT ships will start construction at the end of 2024 and will be completed and operational in 2028.
_ October 11, 2023: A signing ceremony of the Framework Agreement took place in Phnom Penh, between Mr. Sun Chanthol - First Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Development Council of Cambodia - and Mr. Zhou Young - representative of CRBC (China Road and Bridge Corporation) - about the Tonle Bassac Navigation and Logistics System Project.
_ October 17, 2023: 6 days later, An official government-level signing ceremony took place in Beijing, chaired by new Prime Minister Hun Manet, allowing Chinese companies to conduct a feasibility study of the Funan Techo Canal Project. Also Mr. Sun Chanthol - First Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Cambodia Development Council - was present at the signing ceremony with representatives of China Road and Bridge Company (CRBC).
_ October 25, 2023: The Funan Techo channel project has been strongly promoted since the first days of Hun Manet's inauguration as Prime Minister. Faced with the massive steps taken by the CB Government on the Funan Techo Canal Project, Cambodia almost put Vietnam in a “fait accompli situation”, while Vietnam still refrained from speaking out strongly and only started the collection phase. Collect opinions from experts, then have a conclusion to report to the current Prime Minister, Mr. Pham Minh Chinh.
_ December 15, 2023: During his official visit to Hanoi, Cambodian PM Hun Manet explained to his Vietnamese counterpart, Pham Minh Chinh, that the Funan Techo Project will not affect the Mekong River flow system, because the canal only transfers water from the Bassac River – which he called a tributary, while the Bassac River is officially a distributary of the Mekong River.
Faced with such an inaccurate announcement, Pham Phan Long, Chairman of the Vietnamese Ecology Foundation (VEF) pointed out : "It was a strategic game designed for Cambodia to circumvent the PNPCA procedure which requires not just notification, a "transboundary environmental impact assessment / TbEIA”,prior consultation and agreement with other Mekong countries including the Vietnamese since the canal uses water from the main stream of the Mekong River, in accordance with the 1995 Mekong River Agreement.
_ March 26, 2024: Former PM Hun Sen, now Chairman of the Senate of CB on a recent trip to Hainan Island to attend the 2024 Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) Conference, with the theme “Asia and the World: Common Challenge, Common Responsibility", Mr. Hun Sen tried to strengthen support from Beijing regarding the Funan Techo Canal project. For that purpose, Hun Sen met with Zhao Leji, Member of the Standing Committee of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China. Hun Sen also had a phone call with Mr. Chen Zhong, Deputy General Director of China Communications Construction Corporation Ltd (CCCC) and was briefed by Mr. Chen Zhong on the progress of the Funan Techo Canal, along with other highway projects across CB territory.
_ April 9, 2024: Former PM Hun Sen, now President of the Cambodian Senate, denied that the Funan Techo Canal would facilitate Chinese military ships from the Ream Naval Base to go up the Mekong River. He wrote on Forum X: "Why did CB send Chinese troops into our country? That violates the Constitution. And why did China send troops into CB, contrary to the principle of respecting Cambodia's independence." Hun Sen responded to a Vietnamese article published on March 18, 2024 claiming that the Funan Techo Canal project has "dual-use", facilitating China's military presence deep inside its territory of CB, close to the Vietnam border. [The Straits Times April 9, 2024 ]
Figure 2: Cai Mep Ba Ria Vung Tau Port is a port for large container ships from the East Sea to Vietnam, and is also a transit station for Cambodian goods to Phnom Penh Autonomous Port. It is expected that by 2028, Cambodia will have the Funan Techo Canal, a separate waterway for ships from 3,000 DWT to 5,000 DWT going straight from Sihanoukville port through 4 provinces of Kep, Kampot, Takeo, Kandal to reach PhnomPenh without having to go to Cai Mep and through Vietnam's Tien River to reach the capital Phnom Penh.
Figure 3: Container ship Evergreen from Cai Mep Ba Ria Vung Tau port is traveling up the Tien River to Phnom Penh Autonomous Port. Tien River has been the only waterway for Cambodia to import raw materials and goods and export agricultural products and garments to China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and even the United States. [Pictures 2 & 3 taken from YouTuber Kim Ngan's screen]
_ April 11, 2024: During a regular press conference, Deputy Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam Doan Khac Viet stated Vietnam's perspective on the Funan Techo Canal Project, emphasizing the importance of cooperation for effective and sustainable management and sustainable use of water resources of the Mekong River. Vietnam also requested CB to coordinate closely with Vietnam and the MRC in sharing information and assessing the impact of this project on water resources and ecosystems of the Mekong Delta, to ensure harmonious interests of the riverine countries and people living in the basin.
_ April 23, 2024: For the first time, the Vietnam National Mekong Committee (VNMC) organized in Can Tho city a national conference to "Consult on Cambodia's Funan Techo Canal Project, and the results of implementing the Guidelines on TbEIA (Transboundary Environmental Impact Assessment) Guidelines on PNPCA along with the results of implementing Notification, Prior Consultation and PNPCA agreements with Pak Beng and Pak Lay hydropower projects and Luang Prabang.
This article is a public participation response to the Vietnam Mekong National Committee Conference in Can Tho on April 23, 2024.
Figure 4: Quatre Bras / Confluence of 4 Rivers:(1) Upper Mekong, (2) Tonlé Sap River, (3) Lower Mekong / also Tien River (4) Bassac River / also Hau River when flowing into Vietnam. The red line connecting the Bassac River and Kep province is a diagram of Cambodia's Funan Techo canal, which will start construction in 2024 and be completed in 2028. [RFA source: Updated map with notes by Ngo The Vinh]
CAMPAIGN PERSPECTIVE
_ Prime Minister Hun Manet affirmed: “Cambodia did not borrow money from China to build the canal, but the construction will be carried out in cooperation with the private sector / private sector in the form of BOT” [5]
It should be noted that the two companies that signed with Cambodia to build the Funan Techo Canal are CRBC (China Road and Bridge Corporation) and CCCC (China Communications Construction Company, Ltd.), in which CCCC has the majority shareholders of Chinese state; and CRBC is a subsidiary of CCCC.
_ Chhengpor Aun, a research fellow at the Cambodian think tank Future Forum, described the canal as the fulfillment of a “national imagination” by addressing Cambodia’s deep psychic wound from the perceived loss of the entire Mekong Delta when the area was formally merged with Vietnam under French colonial rule in 1949. [1]
For Cambodian researcher Aun, the canal would mean “Camdodia could reclaim a degree of economic – and even political – autonomy from the eastern neighbour [Vietnam].” At the same time, he noted, autonomy would be delayed as the canal’s operation would remain in Beijing’s hands for more than five decades as part of the “Build-Operate-Transfer” financing model. [1]
Still, Cambodia appears fixated on advancing the canal and has flooded state-aligned media with publicity over the canal and reassurances to Vietnam for the past six months. Analyst Aun told the Nikkei: “To build the canal the Manet administration will have to “push up [up against] the no-go line in bilateral relations with Vietnam. Walking between China and Vietnam is no easy task for Cambodia under new leadership. The path forward is getting more rocky and risky.” Aun said. [1]
_ Sok Touch, Cambodia’s top government scientist, president of the Royal Academy, has implied that Vietnam’s real fear is a loss of control over Cambodia, and that Hanoi should mind its own business. “Look at Vietnam! They transport rice through a waterway system. Do you ever see them telling us [in advance] that they are going to dig that? No, they never tell us,” Touch told state-aligned media in January. “Please take pity on us Khmer (Cambodians)! What we Khmer are going to do does not affect you [Vietnam].” [1]
Figure 5: On October 17, 2023, the official government-level signing ceremony took place in Beijing, under the chairmanship of new Prime Minister Hun Manet, allowing Chinese companies to conduct a feasibility study of the Funan Techo Canal Project. Also Mr. Sun Chanthol (right) First Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Development Council of Cambodia was present at the signing ceremony with representatives of China Road and Bridge Company / CRBC (left). [source: FreshnewsAsia October 18, 2023]
VIETNAM'S PERSPECTIVE
Vietnam clearly saw that the initial information provided by the CB was very flawed, if not misleading, which could lead to erroneous assessments. This prompted Pham Phan Long of the VEF to expose the incomplete disclosure in an article: “Cambodian Prime Minister raises doubts in Hanoi about Funan waterway project.” [6] With many things left unsaid, the Phnom Penh Notification sent to the MRC identified the Funan Techo Canal as just a inland waterway for 1,000 DWT ships for transporting goods, but actually the project's design is for ships from 3,000 DWT to 5,000 DWT. They said they only transferred water to the canal locks but did not mention that they would also transfer water for irrigation development because in reality, Funan Techo will be a Multipurpose Canal [7]. In addition to navigation, there are many other purposes that the Royal Government of Cambodia did not officially notify the MRC, but we can mention:
_ That freshwater canal takes water from the Mekong River and Bassac River flowing through 4 provinces of Kandal, Takeo, Kampot and Kepwith nearly 1.6 million people living on both sides of the canal, and once it has changed its course and has an invaluable source of fresh water, the canal is not only a waterway but also an irrigation canal to expand agriculture on Cambodian lands that are currently lacked of water, and will also create new lakes for aquaculture, more food and improving the lives of residents of the 4 provinces in the region.
_ It is clear that in the discussions of The Transport and Logistics Forum 2023, the Cambodian business and investment community expect the appreciation of land and coastal real estate from the canal. The canal subordinate ports would generate new jobs and new housing development; demanding additonal water from the canal for the population consumption.
Thus, notifying the MRC only the 3.6 cms of water used by the ship locks year-round without the water the canal must draw from the Mekong River to support the Cambodia’s full agenda is grossly misleading.[7]
Dr. Le Anh Tuan, Former Deputy Director of the Research Institute for Climate Change [DRAGON-Mekong Institute], Can Tho University, a long-time expert on the Mekong Delta, spoke: The story of Cambodia's Funan Techo Canal up to now (April 2024) is difficult to assess with all the "hidden challenges" for the future of the Mekong Delta because there is a lot of initial information that is incomplete and unclear. According to Dr. Le Anh Tuan, the things that need to be done to minimize the harmful effects are:
_ The Mekong River Commission, especially Cambodia and Vietnam, need to have a comprehensive assessment of the technical, economic, environmental and social impacts of this project on Cambodia and Vietnam. There needs to be a mechanism to regularly share information on water operations from the Bassac River and the Funan Techo Canal, including flow rates, sediment quality and fish stock fluctuations.
_ It is necessary to calculate and agree on the minimum flow (or environmental flow) of the Bassac River to the Mekong Delta in the Dry Season. Minimum flow security should be provided by a legal commitment and be publicly monitorable.
_ Even with the Funan Techo waterway transport route in the future, Cambodia still depends on the Tien River waterway across the Mekong Delta for large cargo shipping routes from Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China, including Russia to get to Phnom Penh via the East Sea because the route will be shorter than having to go around Cape Ca Mau into the Gulf of Thailand. Vietnam can have diplomatic negotiations with the CB about this advantage because up to now this route still has no tolls.
BOT OR BOOT IS MORE DANGEROUS THAN DEBT
To ease people's anxiety and neutralize opposition factions' criticism that Cambodia is falling into China's debt trap, PM Hun Manet said.Cambodia did not borrow 1.7 billion USD from China but just under the BOT method. With angry words, PM Hun Manet continued: "Whoever thinks that BOT is a CB that borrows from China is stupid.", Pham Phan Long gently points out that : "Not realizing that BOT is a disguised debt that still has to be paid is even more lacking in intelligence." China holds full possession and authority to collect tolls from cargo ships for 50 years, until then the canal is still owned by them, not Cambodia.
So what is BOT? Instead of simply calling it BOT, if written in full -- it should be BOOT: Build – Own - Operate – Transfer / Build-Own-Operate-Transfer. Now it is simply called BOT / Build - Operate - Transfer / Build-Operate-Transfer, without the word ownership, but still "owned" by the Chinese state company for 50 years. The most worrying thing is that during the "half a century" waiting period until the day of transfer to the Cambodian side to operate, water source control is based on China's operating procedures and operational information is very difficult to come by. shared openly and transparently. Thus, the immediate future of Vietnam -- more specifically the Mekong Delta region, is completely passive in terms of water resources and suffers unpredictable economic - environmental - social damage.
VIETNAM AND CONCERNS
Figure 6: According to US intelligence, there have been two Type 056A warships of the Chinese People's Army anchored in Cambodia's Ream Naval Base for 4 months, causing great concern among the US and Vietnamese military. Ream Naval Base was renovated by China. Phnom Penh denied reports that there was an agreement with the Cambodian Government allowing the permanent presence of Chinese warships here. From Ream Naval Base to Vietnam's Phu Quoc islandarrive30 km.[Photo: Weibo, South China Morning Post April 19, 2024]
On the Vietnamese side, there is an additional concern that in the next half century, when China has ownership and full rights to exploit the Funan Techo Canal, it will be an "ecological weapon" that can eliminate natural water resources -- a vital factor of the Mekong Delta economy. And beyond, according to two Vietnamese researchers Dinh Thien and Thanh Minh of the Oriental Research Institute, the Funan Channel Techo has “dual uses” Facilitate the Chinese military presence deep into CB territory, close to the Vietnamese border. [The Straits Times April 9, 2024 ], more a military threat to Vietnam's territorial security. This opinion was strongly rejected by Mr. Hun Sen, who he considered "fabricating the story". While the US government is also very concerned about Chinese warships still entering and leaving CB's Ream Naval Base, which is considered a new military outpost of Beijing close to the East Sea, which is a disputed area with the two Hoang Sa archipelagos. and Truong Sa between China and Vietnam and ASEAN countries.
Through the state media, the Phnom Penh government also deliberately created concerns among the Khmer people that CB would forever be dependent on Vietnam if it did not have the Funan Techo canal as its own waterway. They also incited national pride - arousing the deep anti-Vietnam feelings of the Khmer people for a long time. But actually there is a treaty between CB and Vietnam for both sides to freely use the Mekong, both Tien and Hau rivers, without tolls and restrictions. Currently, the CB government has not told the whole truth to its own people.” No matter what faction you belong to, cultivating anti-Vietnam/ anti-Yuon sentiments (Yuon is a contemptuous word for Khmer people to call Vietnamese). For a long time, the anti-Vietnam tactic was still considered a "symbol of patriotism” and also the common denominator that united their factions.
CAMBODIA ALSO SUFFERED DAMAGES FROM FUNAN TECHO CANAL
_ Environmental damage:The Funan Techo Canal will cut across four provinces: Kandal, Takeo, Kampot, and Kep. The canal bank will be like a solid dyke cutting Cambodia's long-standing flooded plains in half. The consequences will be: the right bank of the canal without drainage will be flooded and the left bank -- including the Mekong Delta will lose the overflow water source from the flood plains, so there will be a water shortage. Certainly, Cambodia will have to divert water from the Funan Techo Canal and from the Bassac river to the left bank to compensate. And so the water source to the Mekong Delta is also significantly reduced, especially in the Dry Season. The writer once compared the Tonle Sap Lake to a heart and the Mekong River system to the circulatory system of a living organism.
Figure 7:Tonle Sap Lake, Dry Season, the lake surface area shrinks (left); In the rainy season, due to flood water from the upstream of the Mekong River, the Tonle Sap River changes direction and flows back into Tonle Sap Lake, overflowing its banks, making the lake's surface area 5 times larger (right). The elasticity of Tonle Sap Lake is increasingly weakened, like a heart failure. [Photo: Courtesy of Tom Fawthrop, Eureka Film]
Over the past two decades, due to the cascades of mainstream hydroelectric dams upstream, the Tonle Sap Lake has been gradually depleted even during the Rainy Season, due to the weakening of the flood flow from the upstream of the Mekong River, and the duration of the water flow back the lake is also shorter. The Great Lake has become an waeakened heart - and now that if more water has to be drained, it is foreseeable that in the near future, the Great Lake's Heart will fall into a state of exhaustion (Heart Failure). Losing the Healthy Lake Heartbeat would be a disaster for both the Tonle Sap Delta -- the rice and fish bowl of the CB and the Vietnam Mekong Delta.
_ Economic damage: It is not correct to say that the Funan Techo Canal is a shorter waterway, saving transport time and fuel than having to go through the Mekong Delta's Tien River as currently. In fact, the majority of container ships going in and out of CB are from eastern countries such as Korea, Japan, Taiwan, especially China and the US, so the journey for a long time is from the East Sea, entering Cai Mep Port, Ba Ria Vung Tau, then going into the Tien River to Phnom Penh is still shorter than having to take a detour to the south, passing Ca Mau Cape to reach the Gulf of Thailand, then Kep port to enter the Funan Techo Canal to Phnom Penh. That roundabout route will be much longer and farther than going through the Mekong Delta: it will take more time and consume more fuel for cargo ships.
Pham Phan Long (VEF) pointed out that the route from Phnom Penh on the Mekong through Vietnam to reach the South China Sea towards Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China or the United States ( the top trading partners with Cambodia) is half the total of the route on Funan Techo Canal to South China Sea because of the Gulf of Thailand. Chinese containers ships, unless forced, will not choose the shallower, narrower and longer Funan Techo Canal to reach Phnom Penh because they do not have to pay the BOT fee and wait to cross three ship locks each way. Funan Techo may be the symbol of another failure of the BRI (Belt and Road Initiative) that Father and Son Hun Sen - Hun Manet are forcing on the Khmer people.
Figure 8: Map comparing two waterways for merchant ships from Phnom Penh to the East Sea through the Vietnam Mekong Delta (blue line) and the waterway through the Funan Techo Canal around Cape Ca Mau into the Gulf of Thailand (red line) along the way twice as far.[Diagram designed and noted by Pham Phan Long]
_ Diplomacy in the Gray Zone: The dynasty of Father and Son Hun Sen and Hun Manet were determined to complete the Funan Techo Canal project, as a symbol of independence from Vietnam, combined with massive promotion by the state press is increasing Hun Manet's leadership reputation and popularity with the Khmer people.
But with China's current economic difficulties, according to Murray Hiebert, an analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies based in Washington DC, expressed doubts about this Project, "I don't see that Canal does bring much benefit to China and it is difficult to imagine that China will spend 1.7 billion USD on this construction project in the next 4 years. [1]
But according to the writer's expectation, the Funan Techo Canal Project is historic symbol and the pride of the Khmer people, certainly at all costs, sooner or later it will be completed - when the project is considered the "Legacy" of the Hun Sen - Hun Manet dynasty.
VISION FROM VIETNAM
It’s worth recognizing the foresight of PM Hun Manet; on November 30, 2023, after officially announcing the cancellation of the Botum Sakor coal power plant project worth $1.5 billion USD with a capacity of 700 MW in a Conservation Area, Hun Manet also made another spectacular decision that there will be no construction of two large hydroelectric dams on the mainstream of the Mekong River in northeastern Cambodia: Sambor dam (2,600 MW) in Kratié province and Stung Treng dam (980 MW) in Stung Treng province. These are wise and courageous decisions, while Cambodia is lacking electricity for development, but still trying to move towards true green renewable energy, avoid polluting the basin and destroying the ecosystem of the Mekong River and the Mekong Delta.
_ Vietnam would not need to oppose Cambodia's plan to develop infrastructure for socio-economic development, including the Funan Techo Canal Project if the adverse transboundary impacts are properly mitigated and monitored. However, because the canal reduces water from the mainstream of the Lower Mekong River and the Bassac River - the upstream of the Hau River, Vietnam has legitimate concerns about its harmful transboundary impacts on her Mekong Delta.
_ Vietnam will not ask for anything more than close and trustworthy cooperation to achieve the sustainable development for all four Mekong countries [Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam] in the basin in water use issue. And the basic provisions of the 1995 Mekong River Agreement need to be respected. These are: [I] Procedures for Notification, Prior Consultation and Agreement PNPCA [Procedures for Notification, Prior Consultation and Agreement], and [II] Transboundary Environmental Impact Assessment [TbEIA]], scientifically, objectively and independently, so that from there, the 4-country Mekong River Commission -- after the Notification step (1), the MRC will have "necessary and sufficient data" to complete the remaining 2-step process of PNPCA, is Prior Consultation (2), and finally Agreement (3).
Figure 9: 45 years after the Khmer Rouge era, from The Killing Fields, is the image of the ruined Cambodia rising from the ashes and reviving. The Funan Techo Canal Project is being promoted as a symbol of the renaissance of the Funan-Angkor-Khmer Empire, and Legacy of the Dynasty of Father and Son Hun Sen - Hun Manet.[Khmer Times 12/23/2023]
CONCLUSION
The writer would like to mention the valid and constructive opinion of a Cambodian scholar, Chheang Vannarith, President of the Asian Vision Institute and Founder of Angkor Social Innovation Park; In an article entitled “Cambodia’s Neighbourhood Diplomacy, Navigating Turbulent Waters”, he wrote: “Under the leadership of PM Hun Manet, Cambodia is going to deepen regional integration further – believing that Cambodia future or destiny cannot be detached from that of the region. Transforming Cambodia into a gateway a hub, or a bridging state of the Mekong region is a long term endeavor. Cambodia’s neighbourhood diplomacy is rooted in the fundamental principles of mutual respect, mutual understanding, mutual trust, and mutual interest of peace and prosperity (M4P2).” These principle are the bedrock upon which Cambodia’s foreign policy stategy is constructed. Neighbouring countries occupy a central and pivotal position within Cambodia’s foreign policy framework.” [4]
Must say M4P2 is a condensed and perfect content for a Mekong Spirit -- like a common denominator, or a connecting red thread that we have been missing for so long between 4 countries living in Mekong Basin. But with Cambodia’s current game for the Funan Techo Canal, Cambodia not only fails to promote the above noble ideal, but they are also falling into a trap that China sets up to divide Cambodia and Vietnam to strengthen China’s grip on the entire region.
NGO THE VINH
April 21, 2024
Reference:
- Brook, Jack. Cambodia to divert Mekong trade via China-built canal, vexing Vietnam. Nikkei Asia Insight March 12, 2024;
- Borton, James. Funan Techo Project Calls for Joint Approach to Mekong Development. Geopolitical Monitor. Opinions. Jan 1, 2024
- Sothearak Sok. Why is Vietnam Worried About Cambodia's Mekong Canal Project? Diplomat, Asean Beat. Jan 02, 2024
- Cambodia's Neighborhood Diplomacy, Navigating Turbulent Waters. ChheangVannarith. Khmer Times Oct 25, 2023
- Cambodia Ministry of Information. Techo Funan Canal Project to be Developed Under Boot Contract. AKP Phnom Penh, Dec 27, 2023
- Pham Phan Long. Cambodia's Prime Minister raises doubts in Hanoi about the Funan waterway project. Viet Ecology Foundation, Dec 20, 2023.
- Ngo The Vinh. From the Khmer Funan Empire to the historic Funan Techo Canal of the Kingdom of Cambodia. Oct 16, 2023.
