Selected Comments Samdech Moha Bovor Thipadei Hun Manet, at the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the Samdech Preah Prom Rotmony Pin Saem Museum [Unofficial and translations]
[1]
(1) Win-win politics stops death by war, protects territory and cultural heritages
The construction of this museum contributes to the socio-economic development of Siem Reap and the country as firstly it contributes to the preservation of the ancestral cultural heritages and secondly to the promotion of tourism in Siem Reap through the organization of additional tourist destinations […] once we are divided, there is war […] which it firstly brings about loss of people’s life in battles; secondly, suffered the loss of territory […] and thirdly, the temples, various cultural heritage sites, built by our ancestors were destroyed either by battles or lost together with some lands to others, or abandoned in the forest with looting of artifacts […]
After the end of the war by win-win politics, we have achieved national unity, the result of which, firstly, is that we stopped deaths because of the war […]; secondly, we no longer lose territory, and we can protect […]; and thirdly, the heritages and cultural properties, are not only no longer destroyed by war […] but also maintained, especially abandoned temples […] we have inscribed one after the other our ancestorial cultural heritages in the World Heritage List for the international community to take part in preserving them as human heritages […] today, we are building a museum to house more artifacts which our Buddhist followers found after the war and brought them to Samdech Pin Saem for preservation and protection […]
(2) That the scattered ancestral souls found their ways home is the pride of peace
From 1996 to 2024, we collected 1,098 pieces (of artifacts) from 15 countries […] it is our duty to take back home the souls of our ancestors. We overcome every obstacle to do this […] we have to work hard on all fronts, legal issues included […] this tells us that war divides not only human beings but also our ancestral souls carved on the rocks. Now that the war is over, all the scattered ancestral souls have found their ways home – the land of Angkor. This is the pride of peace […] it is necessary to ensure peace and stability so as our people, our land and our cultural heritage will not be divided or separated […] (even though the war ended) since 1998, demining is not over yet. We have cleared about 3,000 square kilometers, while the remained 1,700 square kilometers, where more than one million Cambodians are living, are still at risk from landmines or unexploded ordnance […]
(3) Museum of antiquities will also attract tourists
Although the construction of the museum is not for tourist purpose but for the preservation of artifacts, we can still draw benefit from the (museum). Our ancestors built these cultural marvels for thousands of years, and we – their children – must take care of them and harvest for the next generation to take care of, develop and preserve together […] speaking of tourism, it is a very important mechanism in promoting national economic growth, creating jobs, and reducing poverty […] (the people in the province of) Siem Reap depends especially on tourism, which does not only refer to hotels, restaurants, airlines, but it is interconnected with the moto taxi riders, farmers who produce and vendors who sell supplies to the tourism sector […]
(4) RGC’s measures and expenditures in Siem Reap and supporting budget for tourism
The Royal Government has put into action from 2020-2021 the 10-round intervention measures to provide budget to help in the tourism sector […] we have introduced additional measures to control the impact of and support for tourism, including investment in infrastructure, in Siem Reap province, where the Royal Government spent US$ 100 million to build infrastructure […] at the private sector forum in November 2023, we set out the principles of preferential tariffs, exemptions of audits, the introduction of 50 million USD budget packages to assist tourism […]
The goal of “visiting Siem Reap 2024” is a priority. In 2024, we have organized many forums. Most regional and international forums are being channeled to Siem Reap. Very few happened in Phnom Penh. We have delegated most of the events, including ministerial meetings, to Siem Reap. That we have that many meetings in Siem Reap is not by chance. This intervention aims to bring people to the meeting and form them to spread the news on Cambodia to the word […] as for this year, in December, there will be a marathon event of 10,000 runners in Siem Reap. I’m going to join the race […] we will create as many such events as we can […]
(5) Relying on figures provided by MoT for scientific calculation regarding tourist arrivals
Regarding the number of tourists in Siem Reap, we take the number of tickets purchased to visit Angkor as a basis […] it is a factor that we can determine the approximate number of tourists. We have high and low seasons […] in Cambodia, according to the follow-up that I have made, the high season is from October 2023 to March 2024, in which there recorded more than 3,000 (tourists) per day and in February alone, there was one day that more than 5,000 tourists arrived in Cambodia. For the low season in June, there were 1,300 tourist arrivals a day. As it has recorded to go up to 1,900/day this month, yesterday it went up to almost 2,000 […] one may ask what do we do with the figure? […] that people say there were more or less is an individual evaluation and point of view. We have to rely on a scientific calculation based on figures according to the reports that I received from the Ministry of Tourism (MoT) and from the private sector […] I also have my own team to come down check on this […] that does not mean I distrust the job but it is part of monitoring, which I said, we have to verify […]
(6) Seeking commercial banks to lower conditions regarding minor irregular bills
Last night I met people at a few stores and later I went up to sit down in a place. I invited the managers of a few small shops in that area to come […] I listened to what they had to say about business life in Pub Street (of Siem Reap). One of them said that in general, the administration helped a lot, the work was smooth, and the issue is the number of guests went up and down […] they let me know one problem (regarding the transaction in US dollars). Immediately after 11 pm, I called the Governor of the National Bank to figure out a solution with the private bank on rejection of US dollars in some local transaction for minor irregularities such as damage reasons. If it is counterfeit money, then it is one thing. If it is completely torn is one thing. When it is just minor irregularity, the bill is refused and/or devalued […] I seek the National Bank Governor’s effort to work with the commercial banks to understand and lower their conditions regarding minor irregular bills. In some places, they let me see, just a slightly scratched pen on the bill, the business people refused to take it. Sellers had to exchange the minor irregularity US$ 100 at the loss of US$ 10 […]
(7) Overlooked minor bumps lead to bad writing about Cambodia
This minor incident/bump affects the impression of tourists. Tourists are related to hospitality. Hospitality is to be provided from getting off the plane until boarding the plane smoothly […] these little bumps, if overlooked, could be a blockage to other works. They could be the reason that the tourists started writing bad things about Cambodia in their pages […] if the National Bank is not ready to coordinate, I could act on that directly with a private bank […] it does not look like there is anything to lose […] for the first year (of this term,) I spent a lot of time in the upper administration, because I had to go abroad, to be a host, to work and lay out policies and to present myself to the ministries […]; and from the second year, I call it the year of monitoring the implementation of the first-year policies. If I announce the implementation of the policy, the Ministry must inform me what they have done and I will go down to see how well it is organized. I have a policy to provide millions of USD to strengthen health centers, […] I will go to check on them […]
(8) Working on e-arrival; online payment; repealing the principle to stay at least one night in the country; and reduce the royalty fee
We have just established a new mechanism – the Marketing and Promotion Board of Cambodia – with the direction to plan and attract tourists to Cambodia in both high and low season 2024 and 2025 focusing on Siem Reap […] whereby, I have given many principles […]
Firstly, the preparation of the e-arrival system of the General Immigration […] in the past, before the plane landed, visitors had to fill out a paper form (and line up) for checking […] with this system in place, they can fill them online […] I give them one month to bring together health, immigration and customs together in one form and put it online […]
Secondly, the online payment […] now with the breakthrough of technology, we can do it. We can allow online payment such as regarding […] for a visa […] when it is time to get off the plane, there no need to wait in line to pay any more. They just wait for the stamp and get out […]
Thirdly, repeal the principle in a sub-decree in place since 1998 that requires tourists to stay for at least one night in the country […] because it is 30 years old and already irrelevant. Guests can come just for one evening as long as they eat a plate of noodles […] furthermore, we are negotiating with India for direct flights and from other areas […]
Fourthly, reduce the royalty fee for the air companies […] I have instructed to cut down in half the royalty fee and monitor the remaining half. If any plane carries more than 80% passengers (into the country), we will drop it even lower […] the state is willing to lose some revenue in order to (have more) arrivals […]
(9) Measures to save travel time and costs to and from the Siem Reap International Airport
We have looked into measures to save time and travel costs to and from the Siem Reap International Airport […] we are negotiating the high-speed train and expanding the route […] the bus schedules are far in between and the taxi service would cost more because it is some distance from town. We have no choice […] the company invests more than 100 million dollars in the 10 km road from the airport to National Road 6 and, in fact, it is a BOT project. The state negotiated with the company to stop charging money […] for the sake of our people, PassApp drivers, TukTuk drivers, and taxi drivers […] along with this, at first, entering the airport, people had to pay. I immediately asked Deputy Prime Minister His Excellency Sun Chanthol to negotiate with the company to charge no money for small vehicles that are coming in under 15 minutes to drop the guests […] and under 30 minutes for big trucks […]
(10) Industry and logistics are the potentials beside tourism
I just wanted to affirm to the people of Siem Reap that you have more potential than just tourism. I am thinking about the Chi Kreng section, which is near to the airport. Our tourist area on this side has the Tonle Sap, and there are cultural heritages, but on that area, there has the potential to be connected with airport and industrial development […] we strive to develop while holding on to conservative manner, and where to give new possibilities […] the people of Siem Reap do have great potential for tourism, but for the time to come, the Royal Government is considering where to promote industrial and logistics development for the sake of creating jobs, increasing income, albeit reducing poverty for the people of Siem Reap […] but also for the people of Kampong Thom […] let us tag them all along […]
(11) True information provided helps resolve the problems
I urge you to use social media responsibly. If not […] we will be fooled by fake news […] the Mayor of Phnom Penh, HE Khuong Sreng, reported to me there was going to be a movement to protest against the policy that allowed Vietnamese electric taxis to do (business in Cambodia) […] I have talked about it and made it clear since the end of last year that there is no such policy […] finally, when we call the poster in to ask, he said he saw and took it from VOD […] that radio has always acted as if it does know anything […] it was on this behavior that the Ministry of Information stripped off its license […] this is not the freedom of expression […] it has to be a responsibility in expression. We are in need of true information. I welcome true information. Many of true information helps me resolve the problems […] the media people must adhere to the code of ethics. They should not take advantage of their career […] if they keep using their license to squeeze people for their interests, they should be stripped off their license and placed in a blacklist […]
(12) The historic Funan Techo canal construction to launch on August 5 at 9.09
I thank all the monks, government officials and people all over the country who have fully supported the Funan Techo canal project, which we are going to launch the groundbreaking ceremony on August 5th, or less than a month from now at 9.09 in the morning. I will press the button to (launch the construction site) and all over the country people will make sounds of drums or gongs, or anything that give sound, to celebrate one more historical achievement for Cambodians. Our ancestors built and left us many cultural heritages. We cannot live with the saying – “do nothing but living off the ancestors’ properties”. We need to innovate. Innovation for whom? For us and for our descendants. Only that that our ancestors will be happy […]./.
