Vietnam, Cambodia plan coastal tourism

Cambodia and Vietnam are developing tours along the coastline that connects the two countries, said the Cambodia Ministry of Tourism.
The plan is part of a cooperation framework between Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand on opening a sea route linking southern coastal cities in the three countries.

The Cambodia ministry said local businesses would invest some US$3.7 million in building infrastructure and services in the Kep, a Cambodian beach town, to serve the tourism route.

Under the plan, tourists will travel on ship from Kep to Ha Tien in Vietnam and vice versa.

The Cambodia government also has decided to upgrade the international airport in the coastal city of Sihanoukville to facilitate flights to and from Siem Reap.

The number of tourists to Cambodia is on the rise, with nearly 2 million travelers in 2006.

Along with the garments industry, Cambodia aims to make tourism one of the country’s spearhead industries.

Source: TTXVN

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Cambodia's ruling party reiterates support for one-China policy

The ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) on Wednesday in Phnom Penh issued a statement to reiterate its adherence to the one-China policy and said no to the Taiwan authority's efforts to re-open its representative office in Cambodia.

"For the last many years, we have noticed that there were many efforts by Taiwan to re-open its representative office in Cambodia. All these efforts didn't effect, because the Royal Government of Cambodia, which is led by Prime Minister Hun Sen, has always strictly respected the one-China policy and CPP also adheres to the same stance," said the statement.

CPP's stance is based on the principle of sovereignty, said the statement, adding that "we respect the sovereignty of our friends, our friends will also respect our sovereignty. The respect of our friends' sovereignty is as precious as the respect of our own sovereignty."

The principle of one-China policy can't be discussed, bargained and exchanged and it is the principle that we can't walk back from, it said.

"CPP would like to reiterate the stance that we accept the one- China policy only. We only recognize the People's Republic of China, which has official diplomatic relations with the Kingdom of Cambodia and wide-ranging relations in other sectors," it said.

While CPP is still in power, Cambodia will strictly respect the one-China policy and will not allow any presence of representative office of Taiwan in Cambodia, it said.

"We can only accept the presence of Taiwanese business people and investors in their private capacities," it added.

Source: Xinhua Read more!