A corner of Ha Tien city (Source: VNA)Kien Giang (VNA) – The border city of HaTien in the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang has recently been payingspecial attention to maintaining and promoting friendship and comprehensivecooperation with localities in Cambodia, contributing to fostering socio-economicdevelopment in the locality.
According to the provincial Department of Foreign Relations, trade exchange andexport-import activities between Ha Tien and Cambodian localities were implementedthrough the Ha Tien International Border Gate and the Giang Thanh National BorderGate.
Kien Giang has signed cooperation agreements with Cambodian localities, namely Kep,Kampot, Preah Sihanouk, Koh Kong, and Phnom Penh. The bonds mainly focus on thefields of agriculture; aquaculture; trade; healthcare; education;culture-sports; tourism; defence-security; people-to-people diplomacy; and in searching,repatriating, and reburying remains of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and expertswho laid down their lives in Cambodia atdifferent periods.
Officers and soldiers of the border guard station at the Ha TienInternational Border Gate have worked hard in implementing social securitymodels to help improve the living conditions of local residents, especiallythose living in border areas. This has contributed to promoting exchange andtightening the solidarity between people of Vietnam and Cambodia.
Forty years ago, in Ha Tien, the Vietnamese army and people fought valiantly toprotect the peace of the south-western border region of the country.
From 1977-1978, the Da Dung and Thach Dong mountainareas in Ha Tien were outposts in the southwest border defence war.
According to Colonel Dinh Quoc Khai, former PoliticalCommissar of the Kien Giang Provincial Military Command, the first battle ofKien Giang soldiers with Pol Pot troops was on June 14, 1975 at the Thach Dongdefence post. The Pol Pot troops were quickly taken down in just one night.
Battalion 207 continued to block the border, breaking the opposition’s conspiracyto infiltrate into Ha Tien.
After a period of solid defence, in December 1978, Battalion 207, local troops,and regular forces from Ha Tien began to attack the Pol Pot troops, fulfilling internationalmission to neighbouring Cambodia andhelping the country recover its administration. –VNA
VNA
