PHNOM PENH, 9 Dec. 2013 – H.E. Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Sok An and the outgoing UK Ambassador H.E.
Mark Gooding met and exchanged views on Monday on Cambodia’s success in the
protection, preservation and sustainable development of Angkor. Both sides were
also pleased with their bilateral cooperation in tourism and trade.
The Deputy Prime Minister
also requested the United Kingdom to continue to support the national side of
the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) for the Khmer Rouge
trials.
Dr. Sok An, Minister in
Charge of the Office of the Council of Ministers, said that the joint efforts
by Cambodia’s government and the donors in protecting, preserving and
sustainably developing Angkor since 1992 have satisfied the international
community, which pledged more support for restoration of the ancient temples.
Cambodia’s preservation and
sustainable development are contributing to attract more visitors, including
British tourists, to visit the Kingdom of Wonder, which has more than 1,000
historic temples.
Dr. Sok An, who is also
President of the APSARA National Authority for Protection and Management of
Angkor and the Region of Siem Reap, told the Ambassador of the success of the
International Coordinating Committee for the Safeguarding and Development of
the Historic Site of Angkor (ICC-Angkor), established in 1992 and co-chaired by
Japan and France.
Last week in Siem Reap province
Cambodia hosted the 20th plenary session of ICC-Angkor and the 22nd ICC-Angkor
technical session.
The Third Intergovernmental
Conference on Angkor was also held in Siem Reap, presided over by Prime
Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen.
Aurélie Filippetti, Minister
of Culture and Communication of France, and deputy foreign minister of Japan,
Yasumasa Nagamine, also participated along with archaeologists and cultural
experts from more than 30 countries.
The third conference
addressed fundamental aspects for the
future of Angkor: how to better publicize the site based on new technologies,
how best to meet the requirements of environmental protection and how to take
better account of the human presence in these places, whether residents or
visitors.
“We have never had any conflict of ideas within the
framework of ICC-Angkor”, Dr. Sok An said of the smooth process of the
ICC-Angkor projects.
Since the establishment of
the APSARA Authority in 1995, more than US$250 million has been spent for 60
projects to restore the temples, some of which have been completed and some of
which are being implemented now with support from 15 countries and 28
international organisations.
“LIVING PROJECT OF ICC-ANGKOR”
Speaking at a press
conference in Siem Reap after the conclusion of the Third Inter-Governmental
Conference on Thursday in Siem Reap, H.E. Dr. Sok An called the ICC-Angkor a
“living project” that will continue in the long run.
“The project has been in place for 20 years and we
still receive support from donors”, Dr. Sok An told Ambassador Gooding who is
leaving on Saturday after two and half years working in Cambodia.
H.E. Dr. Sok An said that
India, New Zealand, Japan, France and UNWTO announced last week their continued
commitment to the ICC-Angkor projects. “This
is a very big success”, he said.
Ambassador Gooding said he
shared the view of the Deputy Prime Minister about Cambodia’s preservation and
sustainable development of Angkor, and that contributes to attract more British
tourists to Cambodia.
TOURISM
The Tourism Ministry reported
that tourists from United Kingdom increased to 110,182 in 2012, from 104,052 in
2011. In the first 10 months of this year, 98,976 British tourists visited
Cambodia.
Cambodia received 3.58
million tourists last year, and that figure is expected to increase to 4.2
million this year. Siem Reap province, the home of Angkor, is the country’s
biggest tourist destination.
The Kingdom expects to
receive 4.5 million tourists by 2015 and 7 million in 2020, Dr. Sok An said at
the opening ceremony of the Sea Festival in Kep on Saturday.
CAMBODIA- UK TRADE
The Ambassador was pleased
with bilateral relations that contributed to boost the two-way trade, which
reached $1 billion in 2012. Britain is looking to promote trade and investment in
Cambodia.
Gooding said that Cambodia-
UK trade envoy plans to visit Cambodia.
In June this year, Lord
Green, Britain’s Minister for Trade and Investment, was pleased with the
British business community that is operating in Cambodia. His visit was to promote
opportunities for British businesses in Cambodia. The UK Trade & Investment
Office opened in the British Embassy in Phnom Penh in January 2013.
“Lord Green’s decision to visit Cambodia during his
mission to South East Asia underlines the strong links and the potential for
more trade between our two countries”, said the press release of the British
Embassy.
SEEKING UK SUPPORT FOR THE ECCC
Dr. Sok An, who is also Chairman of the Royal Government Task Force
on the Khmer Rouge Trials, on Monday sought further UK contributions to the
national side of the Court. “The court is like a
plane; it cannot fly with one wing”, he said.
The UK has contributed $10
million to the Court, of which $1.5 million went to the national side. The
remains went to the international side of the Court.
Ambassador Gooding welcomed
the joint mission of Cambodia and the U.N. that visited capitals of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in August in an effort to raise
funds for the Court.
Both sides shared the view
that it is time “to talk about completion strategy of the Court”.
Since its establishment in
2006, the ECCC has spent US$187 million. Cambodia and the U.N. have continued
to seek new donors and contributions from existing friends of the ECCC to
support completion of its mission of providing justice to nearly 2 million
victims who died under the Democratic Kampuchea regime from 17 April 1975 to 6
January 1979.
End.