Vietnam shortens time for licensing Cambodia-bound transporters

From Dec. 1, it will take Vietnamese firms two days instead of the current seven days to get a Vietnam-Cambodia international road transport license, local newspaper Tuoi Tre (Youth) News reported Monday.

The new regulation of the Directorate for Roads of Vietnam under the Transport Ministry will be applied to all automobiles which leave Vietnam for Cambodia through seven Vietnamese border gates, said the directorate's deputy general director Nguyen Van Quyen.

The ministry will allow municipal or provincial transport departments to grant such licenses for all locally-registered cars to go to Cambodia as well as for cars of individuals and organizations located in other Vietnamese localities to go to Cambodia through border gates, he said.

The new regulation is to foster Vietnamese businesses in transporting passengers and goods to Cambodia.

Vietnam and Cambodia shares a border line of 1,137km, with 10 Vietnamese provinces bordering nine Cambodian ones. Vietnam, which has 10 international border gates and 13 national border gates to Cambodia, is expected to make two-way trade of 5 billion U.S. dollars with Cambodia this year, said the General Department of Vietnam Customs.

Last year, Vietnam exported to Cambodia over 2.6 billion U.S. dollars worth of goods, mainly petroleum products, steel, animal feed, fertilizers, plastic products, garments, garment and textile materials and accessories, and vehicles and their spare parts, according to the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade. Meanwhile, Vietnam spent over 625.2 million U.S. dollars importing Cambodian products, mainly cashew nuts, maize, tobacco materials, wood, rubber and steel scraps. Endi