Phnom Penh (FN), Dec. 27 – South Korean Ambassador to Cambodia H.E. Dr. Park Heung-kyeong hosted a lunch reception for Cambodia’s leading media at his residence in Phnom Penh on Friday.
Media representatives from Fresh News, TVK, BTV, Hang Meas, the Phnom Penh Post, Khmer Times, and a few more joined the reception with ambassador to promote cooperation between Cambodia and South Korea; and discuss mechanisms to enhance the exchanges of information in the digital era; and using media to promote bilateral trade, investment, tourism, and human resources between the two countries.
At his opening remarks, the ambassador stated that the bilateral cooperation between Korea and Cambodia have consistently developed since the re-establishment of diplomatic relation in 1997.
“As more than 10,000 multi-cultural families with Korean and Cambodian roots have been formed, Prime Minister Hun Sen called our close relations as [in-law countries],” the ambassador underlined.
According to the aide-mémoire prepared by the Embassy of the Republic of Korea which Fresh News received on 27 December 2019, Cambodia-Korea trade volume has increased to around 1 billion dollars and the accumulated investment by Korea in Cambodia has reached 5.8 billion dollars, making Korea the second largest investor in Cambodia.
“Korea has provided 700 million dollars of official development assistance (ODA) to Cambodia, making Cambodia the second largest ODA partner for Korea. Hundreds of Korean missionaries and NGO volunteers are working for various development cooperation activities, such as education, healthcare and rural development in Cambodia.”
About 300,000 Koreans visit Cambodia each year, while there are an estimated 15,000 Koreans living in Cambodia and nearly 47,000 Cambodians living in Korea.
Regarding cultural sector, Korean Embassy has organized cultural events in order to enhance friendship and mutual understanding between Cambodian and Korean people.
Korean Embassy, in late November, hosted Korean cultural festival to celebrate the ASEAN-Korea and Mekong-Korea summit being held in Busan, Korea.
Korean Embassy also hosted Korea film festival to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Korean film making in this early December. At least 1,500 Cambodians viewed five different Korean films including Parasite and Exit which the embassy organized.
Next year Korean Embassy will organize Cambodian contest for K-pop World Festival, Taekwondo competition, Korean language speech contest, Korea cultural festival in cooperation with CKCC, and the 14th Korea film festival, according to the ambassador.
=FRESH NEWS
