Business circles jointly draw a new blueprint for China-Cambodia economic and trade cooperation

On February 10, the China-Cambodia Economic, Trade, Investment and Tourism Forum was held in Beijing. In the special speech, the business circles of China and Cambodia talked freely about new opportunities for cooperation in tourism, finance, digital economy and other fields, and jointly drew a new blueprint for China-Cambodia economic and trade cooperation. The forum was co-sponsored by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and the Ministry of Commerce of Cambodia, and attended by about 300 representatives of the two governments and the business community.
In his opening speech, Ren Hongbin, President of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, said that in recent years, under the personal leadership of the leaders of the two countries, the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between China and Cambodia has been constantly deepened, the economic and trade relations between the two countries have maintained a good momentum of development, the industrial and commercial cooperation has achieved fruitful results, and the bilateral trade and investment have reached a new high. At the same time, Cambodia, as the main tourist destination of Chinese citizens in Southeast Asia, has rich tourism resources. With the recovery of Chinese citizens' tourism to Cambodia, I believe that the tourism cooperation between the two countries will stimulate great potential.
Tourism cooperation may usher in rapid progress. Tang Kun, Minister of Tourism of Cambodia, said that China is the largest source of tourists in Cambodia. Cambodia will strive to provide better services for Chinese tourists, maximize the interests of all parties, continue to promote the implementation of the "China Preparation" tourism industry white paper plan, and launch a number of measures such as mobile payment in human currency to attract Chinese tourists to Cambodia. "We hope to receive more than 1 million Chinese tourists to Cambodia in 2023. Cambodia has prepared to welcome and entertain the Chinese tourists. We hope that more and more Chinese tourists and investors will visit Cambodia and engage in business activities in the future. We hope Cambodia and China will become closer and closer, and the friendship will last forever. We hope that the two countries will continue to make new progress in promoting comprehensive strategic partnership and building a community of shared future Achievements. " Tang Kun said.
Zheng Lijuan, general manager of China Tourism Group Travel Service Co., Ltd., said that the tourism industry is an important bridge in promoting the construction of the China-Cambodia community. The year 2023 is the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Cambodia and the year of friendship between China and Cambodia. China Tourism Group will take Cambodia as the main overseas destination for in-depth development in 2023. It will actively create high-quality, customized and differentiated products and services around Cambodia's rich and diverse consumption scenarios to meet the in-depth, high-quality and immersive travel needs in the fields of consumption, business, culture, study, medical treatment, sports and other fields in the post-epidemic era.
Financial cooperation helps the "the Belt and Road". "China and Cambodia have a profound traditional friendship and fruitful practical cooperation in various fields." Zhang Weiwu, Vice President of ICBC, said that since its opening in 2011, ICBC Phnom Penh Branch has provided Cambodia with nearly $700 million in loan financing for the "the Belt and Road" project, and provided a series of financial services such as syndicated financing and local cross-border settlement for large-scale infrastructure projects such as Cambodia's Golden Harbor Expressway, It has played a positive role in serving the economic and trade exchanges between China and Cambodia and promoting the economic development of Cambodia.
"Prime Minister Hun Sen's visit to China will certainly play a powerful role in deepening China-Cambodia bilateral relations. ICBC will seize the opportunity of deepening bilateral economic and trade cooperation and help the in-depth integration of China-Cambodia economy and trade." Zhang Weiwu suggested that, first, focus on financial cooperation and smooth the new channel of financial resources flow. ICBC is willing to work with Cambodian financial institutions to strengthen investment and financing cooperation between Chinese and Cambodian enterprises and explore cooperation in emerging fields such as digital currency and e-commerce. The "the Belt and Road" Inter bank Normalization Cooperation Mechanism (BRBR Mechanism) currently has 160 members and observer institutions from 71 countries and regions around the world, including a Cambodian local bank. In the future, more Cambodian financial institutions are welcome to join this mechanism, strengthen resource sharing, and more effectively serve the "the Belt and Road" construction. Second, focus on the concept of inclusiveness and open up a new blue ocean of cooperation in various fields. In the next step, ICBC will continue to fulfill its corporate social responsibility, continue to increase financial support in infrastructure construction, poverty alleviation and other areas of people's livelihood, and strive for more achievements of "the Belt and Road" people to people connectivity.
The information and communication technology (ICT) industry has a broad space for cooperation. "Since Huawei started its business in Cambodia in 1999, it has cooperated extensively and deeply with local mainstream telecom operators, governments and industry customers to build digital infrastructure in Cambodia." Fang Yu, director of the board of directors of Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., said that at present, Huawei's communication network provides services for more than 80% of the population in Cambodia. For many years, Huawei has always been committed to local development, training local talents and building ICT ecosystem. Each year, it directly trains more than 1000 ICT professionals for Cambodia, and the proportion of local employees of Huawei Cambodia exceeds 80%, promoting the development of Cambodia's information and communication industry.
Fang Yu said that the development of the world economy is moving towards digitalization and intelligence, and the digital economy will become an important engine to promote economic development. Huawei noted that Cambodia has always attached importance to the role of the digital economy in the development of the country. Huawei promised to continue to contribute to the development of Cambodia's digital economy. Through continuous investment and innovation, it will truly become a loyal partner in the digitalization of all walks of life in Cambodia, and make its due contribution to the friendship between China and Cambodia with all business colleagues.
Chen Fengming, president of the Cambodian General Chamber of Commerce, said that under China's open policy, the practical cooperation between Cambodia and China will surely usher in more results. At the same time, the Cambodian government will introduce more preferential policies to welcome Chinese enterprises to invest and start business in Cambodia.