On 26 September 2018, Mr. Chen Dehai, Secretary-General of ASEAN-China Centre (ACC), met with H.E. Dr. Thong Khon, Minister of Tourism of the Kingdom of Cambodia, on the sidelines of the 2018 ASEAN “Belt and Road” Tourism Culture Exchange Week in Guiyang. The two sides exchanged views on deepening ASEAN-China and Cambodia-China exchanges and cooperation in tourism. Ms.Kong Roatlomang, Director of Education, Culture and Tourism Division of ACC, was present at the meeting.

Minister Thong Khon extended his sincere thanks to ACC for inviting the Ministry of Tourism of Cambodia to participate in the Tourism Culture Exchange Week. He said that the Belt and Road Initiative proposed by President Xi Jinping covers a wide range of areas including international cooperation, industry, agriculture, trade, investment and tourism, and will bring important opportunities for developing the tourism industry of Cambodia. The Ministry of Tourism aims to receive more than 2 million Chinese tourists annually by 2020. While expressing his appreciation to ACC for hosting the Tourism Culture Exchange Week, he hoped to expand Cambodia’s exchanges with Chinese provinces and cities with the support of ACC and deepen cooperation in tourism resources development management and innovation, ecological city building, and tourism industry personnel cultivation.

Secretary-General Chen Dehai welcomed Dr. Thong Khon and his delegation to attend the Tourism Culture Exchange Week and congratulated them on successfully hosting the special tourism promotion event Cambodia Night. Saying that the Tourism Culture Exchange Week is a new platform set up by ACC to deepen ASEAN-China tourism cooperation, he hoped that all parties will take this event as an opportunity to strengthen cooperation and exchanges, work together to create more tourism products that are tailored to the needs of both sides, and promote the in-depth development of tourism cooperation between the two sides.