Olivier Becht, Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade Visit Cambodia

PHNOM PNEH: On 20th January 2023 The France Embassy in Cambodia announcement Mr. Olivier Becht, Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade, Economic Attractiveness, and French Nationals Abroad, attached to the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, will visit Cambodia on 24 and 25 January 2023, to strengthen economic cooperation between France and Cambodia.

This visit follows the meeting between Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen and French President Mr. Emmanuel Macron in Paris on 13th December 2022.

Accompanied by a business delegation led by MEDEF International and Business France, he will meet with members of the Cambodian government Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen, the Minister of Commerce Mr. Pan Sorasak, and the Minister Delegate to the Prime Minister and Secretary General of the Council for the Development of Cambodia Mr. Sok Chenda Sophea.

Mr. Olivier Becht will meet on several occasions with the 5,000-strong French community in Cambodia, including representatives of the very dynamic business community.

The Minister Delegate will attend the ceremony to lay the foundation stone for the reconstruction of the monument honouring the Cambodian and French dead of the First World War, decided by the Cambodian government, in the presence of the Minister of the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction, Mr. Chea Sophara, and the Minister of Culture, Ms. Phoeurng Sackona.

He will visit the Bakheng drinking water plant, financed by the Agence française de Développement AFD (French Development Agency), the European Investment Bank, and the European Union. In Siem Reap, Mr. Olivier Becht will visit the temples of Angkor and in particular the Western Mebon restoration project, financed by France.

This visit is in line with France’s increased commitment to ASEAN, marked in 2022 by the participation of the President of the Republic Mr. Macron in the G20 Summit in Bali and the APEC Summit in Bangkok. Southeast Asia is a key region in France’s Indo-Pacific strategy: it is the most economically dynamic region in the world with a particularly sustained growth rate. ASEAN is the European Union’s 3rd largest trading partner.

Photo by: Supplied