Vietnam - Cambodia: Opening up new opportunities for cooperation and tourism development

Many good signs about tourism between the two countries

Welcoming the delegation of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism led by Minister Nguyen Van Hung to visit Cambodia and attend the SEA Games Opening Ceremony, Minister of Tourism Thong Khon said that he was pleased and appreciated the participation of the Vietnamese delegation at the 32nd SEA Games. On this occasion, Minister Thong Khon also acknowledged the efforts of the tourism industry on both sides. Although the Covid-19 pandemic occurred in 2019, the two ministries have met and worked together three times.

“With the direction of the two Ministers, the efforts of the officials, civil servants and public employees of the two Ministries, the tourism cooperation between the two countries has achieved many results. I hope that the two sides will cooperate and promote tourism development, especially after the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding that will be signed in a few minutes. Hopefully, the number of Vietnamese tourists visiting Cambodia this year will be equal to the time before the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Minister Thong Khon.

Minister Nguyen Van Hung hopes that Vietnam - Cambodia tourism cooperation will have more positive signals in the coming time.

Announcing the good news that in the first 3 months of 2023, Cambodia welcomed more than 200,000 Vietnamese visitors to Cambodia and the number of Cambodian tourists to Vietnam also grew strongly, the Minister of Tourism of Cambodia said that the tourism industry of the pagoda country is implementing many solutions to stimulate tourism development such as building a multi-purpose seaport in Kampot province to attract tourists to Cambodia by sea. Appreciating Vietnam's development of tourism in Phu Quoc, Minister Thong Khon said that he hopes to have a connection between Phu Quoc tourism and Siem Reap province. To do that, the two sides need to connect to have direct flights between these two famous tourist destinations.

Regarding sports, as President of the Cambodian Olympic Committee, Mr. Thong Khon thanked Vietnam for its valuable support in training and coaching many generations of Cambodian coaches and athletes, especially in Vovinam. This is a sport in which Cambodia has won many gold medals. Expressing his gratitude for Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang's visit and attendance at the Opening Ceremony of the 32nd SEA Games, Mr. Thong Khon hoped that Vietnam in general and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in particular would continue to pay attention and create favorable conditions for Cambodia in developing sports, promoting the development of the smokeless economic sector.

Minister Thong Khon emphasized that Vietnam and Cambodia will promote cooperation in the field of tourism.

Recalling the gratitude that the Cambodian people and the Minister himself have for Vietnam for helping Cambodia escape the Pol Pot genocide to enter an era of peace, national reconciliation and development, the Minister of Tourism emphasized that he highly appreciated the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam and always considered Vietnam as friends and brothers with precious feelings and trust.

Tourism cooperation between the two countries is increasingly effective.

In a warm and friendly atmosphere, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung expressed that in the past few days, the delegation of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism had the opportunity to visit the beautiful country of Cambodia, full of brotherly solidarity, witness the development of the country of pagodas and was impressed by the organization of the 32nd SEA Games.

With sincere and respectful feelings, Minister Nguyen Van Hung shared joy and congratulated the successful opening ceremony of the 32nd SEA Games, leaving a good impression on the people of ASEAN countries. Recalling the role of sports in peace building that Prime Minister Hun Sen once again shared at the opening ceremony of the 32nd SEA Games, Minister Nguyen Van Hung said that this idea and the special art program at the opening ceremony helped the people of ASEAN countries understand more about the culture and the growth and maturity of Cambodia since its liberation.

Minister Nguyen Van Hung and Minister Thong Khon signed a Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vietnam and the Ministry of Tourism of the Kingdom of Cambodia.

Although Cambodia is a developing country with many difficulties, with the generous and open-minded character of the Khmer people, Cambodia has provided free food and accommodation for the delegations, creating a special mark after 31 SEA Games were held. Minister Nguyen Van Hung also believes that after the success of the Opening Ceremony, with an impressive performance combining sound, light and technology effects, the 32nd SEA Games will continue to be successfully held.

Regarding cooperation in the field of tourism, in 1995, the two sides signed a tourism cooperation agreement, then signed implementation documents. Currently, the two sides are implementing the tourism cooperation memorandum signed in 2015. Appreciating the cooperation to promote tourism development, especially the overcoming of difficulties of tourism in the two countries during the pandemic, Minister Nguyen Van Hung said that this is an opportunity for the two sides to look back on the cooperation process in the past time to draw experience and propose specific solutions to implement in the coming time. With 7 months of 2023 remaining, the Minister said that we need to implement specific activities or, within a 5-year framework, we need to determine the tasks for each year, what we have done and what we need to add to make the implementation more effective in the following years.

The Minister assessed that the implementation of cooperation in the field of tourism in recent years has complied with the signed contents, the two sides have also innovated many tourism products; conducted many delegation exchange activities, notably the appearance of the Cambodian Minister of Tourism at the Ho Chi Minh City International Tourism Fair.

The signing creates a basis for promoting cooperation between the two ministries in the coming time.

Regarding the exchange of visitors, Vietnam and Cambodia always pay attention to the two-way exchange of tourists, in which the number of Vietnamese tourists to Cambodia regularly ranks first among the countries sending tourists to Cambodia. Cambodian tourists to Vietnam have had positive growth (in 2022, the number of Vietnamese tourists to Cambodia reached 466,170, accounting for 21.7% of the total number of visitors to Cambodia and ranking second among the countries sending tourists to Cambodia). Cambodian tourists to Vietnam have had positive growth every year (in 2022, the number of Cambodian tourists to Vietnam reached 140,461 and ranked fourth among the countries sending tourists to Vietnam). In the first 4 months of this year, the number of Cambodian tourists to Vietnam was 135,501; the number of Vietnamese tourists to Cambodia in the first 2 months of the year was 131,196.

Minister Nguyen Van Hung emphasized that the common point between the two countries is to develop tourism based on cultural resources, identifying the development of tourism products based on the strengths of heritage. The Minister also suggested ways to create new tourism products such as tourism through heritage sites, forming tours, routes, and flights to connect destinations with famous heritages of the two countries; building new tourism products with the spirit of two countries, one destination. The Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vietnam said that Vietnam will create conditions and support Cambodia in training and improving the quality of human resources in the tourism sector.

The Minister also informed the Cambodian Minister of Tourism that Vietnam always pays attention to and creates favorable conditions for tourism development through specific policies such as visa relaxation or amending and supplementing the Law on Exit and Entry to create favorable conditions for citizens and tourists to come to Vietnam by air, road and sea.

Overview of the working session

Thanking Minister Nguyen Van Hung and the delegation of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vietnam for their good feelings towards the Ministry of Tourism of Cambodia in particular and Cambodia in general, Minister Thong Khon expressed his desire to further strengthen the cooperation between the two ministries and said that Cambodian fans always love and support Vietnamese athletes competing at the 32nd SEA Games. Regarding the invitation of Minister Nguyen Van Hung, Minister Thong Khon happily accepted and said that he would arrange to visit Vietnam in the near future.

Immediately after the meeting, the two Ministers signed a Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vietnam and the Ministry of Tourism of the Kingdom of Cambodia on strengthening cooperation in the field of tourism. Accordingly, the two sides will strengthen and develop tourism for the mutual benefit of both sides; promote the flow of tourists between the two countries through strengthening cross-border cooperation and facilitating cross-border tourism and increasing the frequency of direct flights between the two countries; strengthen cooperation in the field of tourism through implementing specific activities based on the national legal framework of the two countries, international treaties to which each country is a member, and enhance capacity in tourism and travel service related sectors in both countries.

The two sides will also facilitate travel and cross-border activities between the two countries; exchange information and tourism data; cooperate in promoting and marketing tourism; and link and develop tourism products. This MoU will be effective for 5 years from the date of signing.

Regarding sports, the Minister hopes that in the coming time, the Olympic Committees of the two countries will continue to cooperate effectively, and Vietnam will also support its friend in training teams and providing facilities. The Minister also invited Mr. Thong Khon, as President of the Cambodian Olympic Committee, to visit Vietnam and sign a cooperation agreement between the Cambodian Olympic Committee and the Vietnamese Olympic Committee to deepen the friendly cooperation in sports between the two countries and promote the effects of the success of the 32nd SEA Games.

THU SAM; photo: QUY LUONG (from Cambodia)

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