Vietnam has not been given sufficient information about the Funan Techo Canal project, said Vietnamese Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Pham Thu Hang at a regular press briefing in Hanoi on May 9.

Spokeswoman Pham Thu Hang of Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Photo: Baoquocte

“We currently lack sufficient information on the Funan Techo project to measure its impact accurately,” Hang said when asked to comment on the Cambodian deputy prime minister's statement that his country would not ignore sharing information on the project with Vietnam.

Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sun Chanthol said at a press conference on the development of the project on May 7 that Cambodia is “not neglecting its responsibility to share detailed information about the project with Vietnam, both officially and unofficially,” as quoted by the Khmer Times.

According to the blueprints reported by the Khmer Times, the project is estimated to cost US$1.7 billion, passing through Phnom Penh and the provinces of Kandal, Takeo, Kampot, and Kep.

The canal will run from Prek Takeo of the Mekong River through the Bassac River – the first and main distributary of the Mekong – in Kandal Province and into Kep Province, affecting a total of 1.6 million people living along its banks.

The canal is 100 meters wide upstream and 80 meters wide downstream, with a depth of 5.4 meters and a navigable depth of 4.7 meters.

The project includes three locks, 11 bridges, 208 kilometers of sidewalk, navigation assistance, and other cross-river infrastructure. Construction of the canal, which will be on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis, is expected to begin later this year and will take about four years to complete.

Overview of Funan Techo Canal project.

In a statement released on May 4, the Vietnamese spokeswoman said that “Vietnam is very concerned about and respects Cambodia’s legitimate interests in accordance with the 1995 Mekong Agreement, relevant provisions of the Mekong River Commission, and the traditional neighborly relationship between the two countries.”

In this regard, Vietnam hopes Cambodia will keep working closely with Vietnam and other Mekong nations to share sufficient information and evaluate the specific impacts of the project on the water resources and ecological environment of the Mekong basin subregion.

Vietnam, therefore, expects mutual and long-term management measures to ensure the riparian countries’ interests, as well as the effective and sustainable management and utilization of the Mekong River’s water resources, Viet said.