By Ek Tha
Press and Quick Reaction Unit
PHNOM PENH, 23May 2012 (PRU) – The outgoing Indian
Ambassador told Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Sok An on Wednesday that Cambodia has
high potential in agriculture, especially rice, and that India will seek to
cooperate in this sector.
His Excellency Ambassador Rajesh K. Sachdeva said
that India’s private sector has been interested in investing in Cambodia’s rice
sector since Prime Minister Hun Sen announced the goal of exporting 1 million
tonnes of milled rice by 2015.
Two-way trade between the countries was valued at
$86.134 million in 2011, including nearly $74 million worth of goods imported
from India. Cambodian exports to India were more than $12 millions according to
Cambodia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
New Delhi expects to set up a rice research centre
that would contribute to boosting rice production in Cambodia.
H.E. Dr. Sok An, who is also Minister in Charge of
the Office of the Council of Ministers, welcomed Indian interest in the sector
and looked forward to working with India on agriculture, because New Delhi is
well known for its “green revolution”.
India’s prospect of agriculture matched Cambodia’s
outlook, something that His Excellency Dr. Sok An said “is very relevant to
Cambodia.”
Both sides were satisfied with their bilateral
cooperation, which is based not only on their friendly foreign policies but
also on their shared cultural values, said Dr. Sok An. The Deputy Prime Minister
recalled that the two countries’ history of shared values goes back 1000 years.
The Ambassador recalled that New Delhi supported
Phnom Penh through the 1980s after the fall of the Khmer Rouge in 1979, and
bilateral ties between the two countries and people have been strengthened
since then.
Cambodia is now seeking support from India for
training the trainers of Cambodian Buddhist monks to improve their teaching
skills, said Dr. Sok An, who was the former Cambodian ambassador to New Delhi
in 1985.
Dr. Sok An thanked India for restoring Cambodia’s
Ta Prohm temple, built in the Bayon style in the late 12th and early 13th
centuries.
India announced in June last year that it will
renovate and restore another temple — Preah Khan in Kompong Svay, 100 km to the
east of Angkor.
The Ambassador recalled the success of the ASEAN-India
Car Rally. The rally highlighted the strong bonds between ASEAN and India, and
spread the message of solidarity, enterprise and creativity, which are the
hallmarks of our region.
India thanked Cambodia for acting as a coordinator
of ASEAN-India partnership.
Earlier this year, India pledged to provide training
and information technology centres.