Cambodia and Thailand have begun the first meeting of a United Nations-backed conciliation process aimed at resolving a long-running maritime boundary dispute between the two Southeast Asian neighbours.
Foreign ministers from both countries delivered opening statements on Tuesday at the meeting in Singapore, outlining their respective positions over disputed waters in the Gulf of Thailand.
Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn said Phnom Penh was seeking a treaty with Thailand to establish a single maritime boundary covering all purposes.
Alternatively, Cambodia was prepared to reach an agreement with Thailand for the joint development and equitable sharing of resources in the disputed area, he said.
Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow said the proceedings were limited to the delimitation of the maritime boundary between the two countries in the Gulf of Thailand.
“Thailand enters this conciliation in good faith, fully mindful of the provisions of UNCLOS,” Sihasak said, referring to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
He added that Thailand had previously proposed holding direct negotiations on the maritime boundary before proceeding with the UNCLOS conciliation process.
Cambodia and Thailand have disputed roughly 26,000 sq km of waters in the Gulf of Thailand for more than 25 years. The area is believed to contain nearly 12 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and significant oil reserves, with an estimated value of around US$300 billion.
The two countries signed an agreement in 2001 to establish a framework for jointly exploiting energy resources in the so-called overlapping claims area.
However, Thailand terminated the agreement in May following deadly border clashes between the two countries last year.
Cambodia subsequently announced in June that it had initiated the compulsory conciliation process under UNCLOS. Under the mechanism, an independent panel examines the dispute and issues recommendations, although its findings are not legally binding on either side.
The UN-backed process has so far been used only by Timor-Leste to resolve a decades-long maritime dispute with Australia.
