Vietnam backs Cambodia's Mekong canal, urges cooperation on impacts

Vietnam backs Cambodia's Mekong canal, urges cooperation on impacts

Vietnam supports Cambodia's plan to build a canal from the Mekong River basin to the Cambodian coast and would like to be involved in finding solutions for the canal's possible negative effects, its foreign ministry said on Thursday.

Cambodian authorities broke ground on Monday on the $1.7-billion Funan Techo Canal, a project that is meant to divert a large part of Cambodian shipping away from Vietnam, according to the Cambodian government.

"We support the project and respect the decision to build the canal," ministry spokesperson Doan Khac Viet told a regular media briefing.

"We would like to collaborate with Cambodia in terms of research and impact assessment so that we can have proper solutions to reduce the impact," he added.

Cambodia has repeatedly downplayed environmental concerns about the new canal, which conservationists and Vietnamese authorities have said could further damage the fragile Mekong Delta, a large rice-producing region.