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A new market will open on the border of Cambodia and Vietnam next year.

Construction of the market began this week in Tbong Khmum province. A Cambodia commerce ministry official said the Vietnamese government had given a grant of $2 million to build the new "Dar Market."

The official said the market will permit people from the Vietnamese side of the border to buy products from Cambodia more easily. If the market is a success, he said, similar markets would be opened in other areas along the border.

The two countries have a long history of border dispute.

Officials from the Vietnamese Embassy could not be reached for comment. But the Vietnamese Ambassador to Cambodia attended Tuesday's ceremony to begin building the market. He was reported as saying that the market celebrates the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Cambodia.

"It will improve the lives of residents in Vietnam's Tay Ninh province and Tbong Khmum in Cambodia," he said.

The chief of the Da community said the new market would bring business and money from many places, not only from Tbong Khmum province. He added that it will also be used for trading agricultural products from Mondolkiri, Ratanakkiri, and Kratie provinces.

Trade between Cambodia and Vietnam has increased quickly over the past five years. It grew from $3 billion in 2016 to $3.5 billion in 2017. The minister of commerce was quoted on the Freshnews website as saying that the new market could help increase trade between Cambodia and Vietnam even more.

I'm Jonathan Evans.

Kelly Jean Kelly adapted this story from VOA Khmer Service. Hai Do was the editor.