Remarks
by
H.E. TEKRETH
SAMRACH
Secretary of
State of the Office of the Council of Ministers
on the Qatar
Airways Inaugural Flight Between Doha and Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh, 20
February 2013
4
-
Excellency Mr. Jabor Ali Lal Dosari,
Ambassador of the State of Qatar
-
Excellency Mao Havannal, Secretary of
State, State Secretariat of Civil Aviation
-
Excellency Pak Sokhom, Under-Secretary
of State, Ministry of Tourism
-
Mr. Akbar Al baker, Chief Executive
Officer of Qatar Airways
-
Excellencies, Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen
On behalf of His Excellency Dr. SOK AN, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister in
charge of the Office of the Council of Ministers, I have a great honor and
pleasure to attend this inaugural ceremony of Qatar Airways’ direct flight
between Doha and Phnom Penh today. Taking this opportunity, I would like to extend
my warmest welcome and appreciation to His Excellency Jabor Ali Lal Dosari,
Ambassador of the State of Qatar, and Mr. Akbar Al Baker, Chief Executive
Officer of Qatar Airways, for attending this important event.
I would also like to express my appreciation to the leadership and
officials of the State Secretariat of Civil Aviation for their efforts in
making our civil aviation one of the key factors in promoting Cambodia’s
tourism sector and economic growth.
Excellencies, Distinguished
Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen!
Cambodia is always well-known for its potentials as one of the very popular
destinations in Asia for cultural and ecological tourism. Our ancestors had
built thousands of great temples all over the country, most of which are in
Siem Reap-Angkor. Moreover, we have beautiful beaches, mountains, waterfalls
and landscapes, all of which are attractive destinations for tourists to visit.
In the past, our tourism industry was not able to utilize its potential to a
great extent due to insecurity and political instability. Consequently, the
number of tourist arrivals remained very modest.
The new era of tourism development started in 1998 after the successful elimination
of the political and military structures of the Khmer Rouge Pol Pot regime through
the implementation of the win-win policy of Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo HUN
SEN, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia, which has since brought
full peace and political stability to the country. Under Samdech Techo’s able
and wise leadership, the Royal Government has been making great efforts in restoring
and developping important infrastructures connecting cities and provinces and
urban and rural areas which provides greater and better access for both
national and international tourists to tour all over the country.
With the high attention and prority attached to tourism development by the
Royal Government, our tourism industry has reached a new stage. Sound tourism
policies have been adopted and implemented; more tourist destinations with quality
tourist products developed; and more flights including direct flights to
Cambodia operated. Furthermore, the Siem Reap airport was upgraded from
domestic to international and this has greatly facilitated the direct arrivals
of international tourists to Siem Reap-Angkor. By now, we have more than 20
foreign airlines operating in Cambodia, with more than 60 flights to Phnom Penh
and Siem Reap province per day.
As a result, the number of international tourist arrivals has increased
significantly from 2.8 million in 2011 to 3.5 million in 2012. We expect the
number to reach 4.5 million in 2014 and 7 million by 2020. In the future, we
will build new and bigger international airports in order to accomodate the fast-growing
demand of future tourist arrivals.
Excellencies,
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen!
It is our great pleasure today to welcome the presence of another
well-known international airline, Qatar Airways, to operate its direct flights
to Phnom Penh, which marks another moment in the history of civil aviation in
Cambodia. I firmly believe that this new flight will not only contribute to
Cambodia’s promising tourism industry and further stengthen the relations
between the two countries, but also open up new connections between Cambodia
and the Arab countries and beyond. In this respect, I would like to sincerely applaud
and congratulate Qatar Airways for its decision to launch this direct flight
between Doha and Phnom Penh.
To conclude, on behalf of His Excellency Deputy Prime Minister SOK AN, I
would like to once again express my heartfelt congratulations to Qatar Airways
for the successful launch of this inaugural flight today and wish Qatar Airways
successful business operations. I firmly hope that Qatar Airways will serve as
a bridge between Cambodia and the Arab world.
I would also like to wish Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and
Gentlemen good health, success, prosperity and family happiness.
Thank You!