(16 Nov 2023)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Siem Reap, Cambodia - 16 November 2023
1. Wide pan of Siem Reap-Angkor International Airport exterior
2. Various of airport sign
3. Chinese ambassador to Cambodia Wang Wentian and Cambodian President Hun Manet at opening ceremony
4. Hun Sen and Wang Wentian walking through airport
5. Wide of opening ceremony speech platform
6. SOUNDBITE (Khmer) Hun Manet, Cambodian President:
"Hopefully, 2024 will be the year of a beginning to push and recover the tourism sector in Siem Reap province."
7. Cutaway of audience
8. SOUNDBITE (Mandarin) Wang Yubo, governor of Yunnan Province in China:
"To improve the level of connectivity between China and Cambodia, comprehensively deepen practical cooperation between the two countries in multiple fields, and inject new impetus, the completion of the airport and the opening of traffic has established an air Silk Road for China and Cambodia economic and trade cooperation, which will definitely promote the cooperation between the two countries in creating a better future and achieve enormous fruitful results under the Belt and Road Initiative."
9. Various of airport interior
10. International departures entrance
11. Wide pan of airport
STORYLINE:
Cambodia inaugurated its newest and biggest airport on Thursday.
The airport is Chinese-financed project meant to serve as an upgraded gateway to the country's major tourist attraction, the centuries-old Angkor Wat temple complex in the northwestern province of Siem Reap.
The Siem Reap-Angkor International Airport is located on 700 hectares (1,730 acres) of land about 40 kilometers (25 miles) east of Angkor Wat and boasts a 3,600-meter- (11,810-foot) long runway.
It can handle 7 million passengers a year, with plans to augment it to handle 12 million passengers annually from 2040.
The airport began operations Oct. 16, with the first flight to land coming from neighboring Thailand.
The old airport it replaces was about 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) from the famous tourist site.
Thursday’s inauguration was presided over by Prime Minister Hun Manet, Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Wang Wentian, the governor of China’s Yunnan province, Wang Yubo, and other officials.
Speaking at the ceremony, Hun Manet said the old airport was located too close to the Angkor temples and it was feared that vibrations from passing flights were damaging their foundations.
Tourism is one of the main pillars supporting Cambodia’s economy.
According to the Ministry of Tourism, Cambodia received some 3.5 million international tourists in the first eight months of 2023, while for the whole of 2019 — the last year before the coronavirus pandemic — it received some 6.6 million foreign visitors.
“Hopefully, 2024 will be the year of the beginning of the advance and rebirth of the tourism sector in our Siem Reap province,” Hun Manet said.
China is Cambodia’s most important ally and benefactor, with strong influence in its economy, shown by numerous Chinese-funded projects, hotels and casinos in the capital, Phnom Penh, and elsewhere around the country.
China’s state banks have financed airports, roads and other infrastructure built with Chinese loans.
More than 40% of Cambodia’s $10 billion in foreign debt is owed to China.
The new airport, built at a cost of about $1.1 billion, was financed by Angkor International Airport (Cambodia) Co., Ltd., an affiliate of China’s Yunnan Investment Holdings Ltd, under a 55-year build-operate-transfer deal.
AP video shot by Ouk Navouth
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