The United States has urged Cambodia to be transparent about a Chinese-funded $1.7 billion canal proposal that worries Vietnam due to its potential impact on water management.

Wesley Holzer, spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh, said: “The people of Cambodia, as well as those in neighboring countries and the broader region, will benefit from any initiative that has the potential to improve regional water management, agricultural sustainability and security. Transparency that affects major causes,” Khmer told VOA in an email on Tuesday.

The proposed canal has alarmed neighboring Vietnam because the project would affect water use downstream.

Cambodia approved the 180-kilometer (111.8-mile) Funantko Canal in May. The US$1.7 billion project, part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, will connect the coastal province of Kep with the inland provinces of Kandal and Takeo. The proposed design is 100 meters (109.3 yards) wide upstream and 80 meters (87.4 yards) downstream, with a consistent depth of 5.4 meters (5.9 yards). This is the latest infrastructure project invested by China in Cambodia.

The project is expected to be completed by the end of this year as planned, Phan Lin, spokesman for the Cambodian Ministry of Public Works and Transport, told VOA’s Khmer service on Tuesday.

US urges Cambodian authorities to ‘coordinate closely with Mekong River Commission’ [MRC] Provide more project details and fully engage in any appropriate environmental impact studies to help the Mekong River Commission and member states fully understand, assess and prepare for any possible impacts of the project,” an embassy spokesperson said.

Doan Kha Viet, deputy spokesperson of the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said on April 11 that “Vietnam is very interested in information about the Funan Taiko Canal project and has asked Cambodia to closely cooperate with Vietnam and the International Mekong River Commission” to share information and assess the impact of the project. . “

Brian Eller, senior fellow and director of the Southeast Asia Program at the Stimson Center in Washington, said the canal connects to a tributary of the Mekong River, “but in fact, specifications submitted to the Mekong River Commission by Cambodia’s National Mekong River Commission show that the canal is connected to Kandal near the Kandal container port. A short canal section of the Mekong River in the province.”

“If the canal is indeed used for irrigation, Vietnam’s concerns will be heightened because the only way to provide irrigation from the canal is to withdraw more water from the Mekong River than specified in the notification document to the Mekong River Commission,” he wrote. in an email to VOA Khmer on Tuesday.

“There is still a lot that is unclear about this project, and it appears to be moving forward at breakneck speed with zero room for appropriate levels of information dissemination and regional discussion,” Eller said.

He added that the project appeared to “drive a wedge between Cambodia and Vietnam, forcing other countries to choose between supporting Vietnam or supporting Cambodia.”

“The 1995 Mekong Agreement and the Mekong River Commission were established to avoid such negative and potentially catastrophic consequences. The Mekong River Commission needs to be involved at all levels of the project, but currently it is not,” he said.

In December, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Mane assured Hanoi that the project “will not have any negative impact on the flow of the Mekong or other rivers, while maintaining a stable environment, ecology and biodiversity of natural habitats.”

Rim Sokvy, an independent Cambodian researcher, said the Cambodian government “will try its best to prevent the project from failing.”

“This project can make a significant contribution to Hun Manai’s image,” he told VOA Khmer in an email on Tuesday. “If this project is going to fail, I don’t think it’s because Vietnam has been trying to oppose it. I think it’s because China has withdrawn its support. However, I don’t think China will do that in the same way that Cambodia is its key ally.”

VOA Vietnamese contributed to this report.