Ratanakkiri officials rejected three of four requests from Vietnam for new border checkpoints meant to foster trade between the countries in negotiations on Monday.

Moeng Sineath, a Ratanakkiri Provincial Hall administrator, said yesterday that the three rejected checkpoints were between Ratanakkiri’s Taveng district and Vietnam’s Sa Thay district, in Kon Tum province.

According to Sineath, Ratanakkiri Governor Thorng Savun said in the meeting that these checkpoints were in sparsely populated areas and surrounded by difficult terrain, so they would not allow for increased trade.

Provincial authorities accepted a request for one new checkpoint between Ratanakkiri’s Andong Meas district and Vietnam’s Ia Grai district in Gia Lai province, close to the existing Border Post 19, Sineath said.

Provincial officials from Ratanakkiri and Gia Lai will now submit plans for the checkpoint to their respective national officials in order to officially establish the checkpoint, Sineath said.

Separately, on Cambodia’s western border, Banteay Meanchey provincial authorities agreed with their Thai counterparts to establish one more checkpoint at Border Post 43 in anticipation of increased development, according to Khuon Choeun, commander of the military’s Border Unit 503.

The authorities agreed to create another border police station and border communication station as border activity rises along with the construction of infrastructure and buildings, Choeun said.