ACC Secretary-General Met with Deputy Governor of Siem Reap of Cambodia

On 19 May 2018, H.E. Mme. Yang Xiuping, Secretary-General of ASEAN-China Centre (ACC) met with Ms. You Sophear, Deputy Governor of Siem Reap of Cambodia, and exchanged views on promoting exchanges and cooperation between China and Cambodia, China and ASEAN, and provinces/cities in China and Siem Reap. Mr. Liu Zhijie, Director of the Chinese Consulate Office in Siem Reap, Mr. Soh Thol, Deputy Administrative Director of Siem Reap provincial government, Mr. Makarpiseth, Director of International Division, Ms. Jeam Phally, Deputy Director of Commercial Department, Mr. Hok Sokuthyea, Chief of Vocational Training Division of Tourism Department, and Mr. Zhang Xuehai, Deputy Director of Information and Public Relation Division of ACC, attended the meeting. 

Ms. Sophear welcomed the visit of Secretary-General Yang Xiuping and briefed on the economic and social development of Siem Reap and its exchanges with provinces/cities in China. She noted that Cambodia and China has enjoyed time-honoured friendship, and the two countries have maintained sustained and in-depth development of the comprehensive strategic partnership in new era. Cambodia has been actively responding to and supporting China’s Belt and Road Initiative, and has carried out all-dimensional practical cooperation with China in the fields of economy, trade, tourism, culture, science and technology and achieved fruitful outcomes. Siem Reap has been keeping strong momentum of cooperation with China. In 2017, Siem Reap received more than 5 million overseas tourists, among whom 910,000 came from China, making it the largest tourist source country. More than 500,000 Chinese tourists visited Siem Reap in the first four months of this year, accounting for half of the total number of overseas tourists. Direct flights between Siem Reap and cities in China have been increased year by year, with 12 to 15 flights travel per day. Siem Reap has signed MoUs with 24 provinces and cities in China to establish sister-city relationship. Currently, 103 Chinese companies have invested in Siem Reap to build a series of infrastructure projects such as airports and roads, making great contributions to the economic and social development of Siem Reap. The Siem Reap provincial government attaches great importance to deepening exchanges and cooperation with China and hopes that China will continue to provide strong support in urban construction, agricultural product processing/production and personnel training in Siem Reap, and looks forward to working with women’s federations in China to jointly promote women exchanges. She said that ACC is an important platform for promoting friendly exchanges and practical cooperation. The Siem Reap provincial government will continue to maintain close contact with ACC and utilize the platform to continuously broaden friendly exchanges and cooperation with China.

Secretary-General Yang Xiuping spoke highly of the remarkable achievements made in the economic and social development of Siem Reap and the fruitful outcomes achieved through exchanges and cooperation with China. She gave a briefing on the development of ASEAN-China relations and the work of ACC. Highlighting that this year marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of Cambodia-China diplomatic relations, she stated that China-Cambodia relations has been maintaining good momentum of development and played an important role in promoting the in-depth development of ASEAN-China relations. As an inter-governmental organization co-established by 10 ASEAN Member States and China, ACC is committed to promoting practical cooperation between ASEAN and China in various fields including trade, investment, education, culture, tourism, and information and media. ACC has maintained close contacts with the Cambodian government and society, by successfully organizing a series of activities including the Cambodian Food Festival, the Tourism Seminar on “China-Ready”, and the ASEAN-China Cultural Tourism Forum, and supporting Cambodia in organizing ASEAN+3 Conference on Interpreting Natural and Cultural Heritage Towards Quality Guiding and Satisfied Tourists. All these activities have achieved good outcomes. There are great potentials and broad prospects for Siem Reap and China to expand exchanges and cooperation. ACC is ready to continue to play the role as a bridge to provide support and assistance for Siem Reap to enhance the level of tourism industry and promote the overall development of its economy and society.