Vientiane  - Laos and Cambodia are planning to allow cross-border bus services to operate in a bid to boost tourism and trade between the two neighbouring countries, state media reports said Thursday.

Deputy Director of the Transport Department Bouaphet Xayasan said the agreement was reached last month and the department is now in the process of granting permits to Lao public bus companies to run the service to Cambodian towns, the Vientiane Times reported.

The Lao government has granted permission to the Pakxe Public Bus Association to provide a bus service between Champasak, southern Laos, to Siem Reap, home to Cambodia's famous Angkor Wat temple complex, and Phnom Penh.

Cambodian bus operators have agreed to provide services on the same route.

Bus travel between Pakxe and Phnom Penh will take a whole day, said the state-owned newspaper.

"The bus service between Laos and Cambodia would boost tourism in the two countries because tourists would have more options and cheaper ways of travel," the Vientiane Times said. (dpa)