Cambodia withdraws from regional development agreement following protests

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said he was withdrawing his country from a development agreement with neighbouring Vietnam and Laos after protests that it was benefitting foreign interests.

Land concessions in border areas have been a sensitive issue because Cambodia has always been antagonistic toward its larger eastern neighbour, critics say on social media.

Authorities jailed at least 66 people ahead of the planned August rally against the Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam Development Triangle Area — or CLV-DTA. Most were granted release but the leaders face charges.

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The agreement concluded in 2004, was designed to facilitate cooperation on trade and migration in four northeastern provinces of Cambodia and border areas in Laos and Vietnam.

Hun Manet labelled opposition groups as extremists, saying they were manipulating the issue to abuse and attack the government and bamboozle the people.

“For instance, allegations that the government ceded the territory of the four northeastern provinces to foreign countries, etc," he wrote in a post late Friday.

He said that in the last 25 years, Cambodia has built many achievements for the development of four provinces, but his government decided to pull out of the agreement, “taking into account people’s concern on territory and the need to withdraw weapons out of the hands of extremists to prevent them from using CLV-DTA to further cheat people."

Cambodia's government has been known to crack down on critics and political opponents. Last year, Hun Manet became the country's prime minister, succeeding his father, Hun Sen, after 40 years of service. However, political liberalisation is almost invisible in the country.