By Ek Tha
PHNOM
PENH, April 6, 2012 (PQRU) – His Excellency Deputy Prime Minister Dr.
Sok An has on Thursday, welcomed the prospects of direct flights to be
launched soon from China’s province of Yunnan to Siem Reap and Phnom
Penh.
A
Government economic and trade delegation from China’s Yunnan province
also announced plans to invest in rice processing factories and set up
agricultural parks in two provinces of Cambodia in the near future. Both
sides agreed to boost bilateral trade up to $5 billion by 2017.
His
Excellency Li Jiheng, Governor of Yunnan province of the People’s
Republic of China, led the delegation which met with His Excellency Dr.
Sok An to seek Cambodia’s permission for the upcoming direct commercial
flight to the Kingdom of Wonder.
His
Excellency Dr. Sok An welcomed the request and saying that direct
flight from Yunnan will bring more tourists to Cambodia. Yunnan province
and the Kingdom of Cambodia alike see tourism is one of key growth
sector.
Cambodia received nearly 3 million tourists last year and that figure is expected to increase by 20 percent per year.
A
newly built international airport in Kunming province worth more than
$2 billion will be inaugurated on 28 June this year. For the first step,
the airport expects to receive 38 million in bound passengers and that
the figure is expected to increase up to 80 million in the future.
His
Excellency Dr. Sok An accepted the invitation to attend the
inauguration from which he expects that Cambodia’s civil aviation
experts will learn a great deal about new developments in civil
aviation.
Yunnan
officials have planned to construct agricultural parks in Siem Reap and
Banteay Meanchey. Agricultural equipment will be imported from China to
technically support Cambodia on ways to improve its rice production
along with higher quality to compete in the free market economy.
With its latest technology, China can produce rice 2 to 3 times higher than Cambodia.
“The
agricultural parks in the provinces of Cambodia will contribute towards
the supply and demand in the tourism industry. It also contributes
towards poverty reduction,” His Excellency Dr. Sok An said.
His
Excellency Dr. Sok An, who is also Minister in charge of the Office of
the Council of Ministers, said Cambodia has more than 4 million tons of
rice (or 2.7 million tons of milled rice) surplus per year. Thus China’s
investment in rice will further boost Cambodia’s rice sector and that
move matches with the Royal Government’s rice policy of exporting up to
1.5 million tons milled rice by 2015.
His
Excellency Dr. Sok An said that Cambodia’s farmers have exported their
surplus crop to neighboring countries of Vietnam and Thailand in the
absence of big rice investors in Cambodia. Thus, investments from Yunnan
in rice processing and exporting the commodity will be a big advantage
for the Kingdom.
The
Yunnan delegation’s visit to Cambodia came after the visit of China’s
President Hu Jintao last month during which He and Samdech Prime
Minister Hun Sen presided over the signing agreement of MOUs that
included grant and loans as well as encouraging more Chinese businessmen
to invest in Cambodia.
The Governor of Yunnan said that his delegation aims to execute a number of MOUs that the two leaders have agreed upon in March.
Both
sides are pleased with the result of the visit by President Hun Jintao,
saying they are committed to the agreement as the two countries have an
ambition to reach $5 billion two-way trade in the coming years compared
to the $2.5 billion recorded last year.
His
Excellency Dr. Sok An and His Excellency Li Jiheng shared common views
that the two countries have reached a comprehensive strategic
partnership since 2010 thanks to the improvement of bilateral relations
through the “ One China Policy”.
His
Excellency Dr. Sok An said that Cambodia is pleased with the visit of
the Yunnan delegation which also comprised investors and traders.
Separately,
the bilateral trade between Yunnan and Cambodia recorded more than $6
million last year, an 82 percent increase from 2010.
The Governor of Yuannan province invited His Excellency Dr. Sok An to attend the 20th trade fair to be held soon.
The
delegation was also encouraged to have more exchange visits of students
and officials, something he called in Chinese culture as saying that
“although we live near or far from other but the more we exchange
visits, the closer we will be.”
His
Excellency Dr. Sok An said that Yunnan province is playing a greater
role in terms of trade connectivity and as a gravity center with
Southeast Asian nations, given the 10-country bloc of ASEAN has plan to
build rail road that will link Singapore to Kunming.
“We do hope that bilateral trade with Yunnan will be greater and greater in the years to come,” said His Excellency Dr. Sok An.