Cambodia seeks tourism cooperation with RI

JAKARTA (JP): Cambodia is seeking to sign a cooperation agreement with Indonesia for the development of its tourism industry, Cambodian Minister of Tourism Veng Sereyvuth said here yesterday.

Sereyvuth, who was here for a five-day visit until yesterday, told The Jakarta Post Sunday evening that he expects the two countries to sign such an agreement early next year.

"I think we can learn a marketing strategy from Indonesia," he said, adding that his country sees a lot of progress in Indonesia's tourism industry.

Sereyvuth, who attended the farewell party of the Tourism Indonesia Mart '94 at Sea World, Ancol Dreamland of North Jakarta on Sunday evening, said his country might imitate Indonesia in organizing such an event to promote its own tourism industry.

The five-day tourism mart was closed yesterday.

The Cambodian minister also said his country is inviting Indonesia's private companies to participate in an open tender for the construction a $400 million international airport on Naga Island, Sihanoukville.

Several companies from the United States, Malaysia, Australia and France have already submitted bids for the construction of the airport project, which will include a casino, marina and golf course.

The tender for the project will be closed on Nov. 21, he added.

Meanwhile, Myanmarese Minister of Hotels and Tourism Let. Gen. Kyew Ba told the Post that his country would also learn from Indonesia on tourism marketing.

"The mart, exhibiting all-Indonesian tourism products, proved that the country has a wide range of choices," Kyew Ba said.

He said the number of tourist arrivals in his country last year reached only 61,000, far lower than Indonesia's 3.4 million in the same year.

Indonesia expects to receive a steady increase in foreign exchange revenues from its tourism industry from US$3.4 billion last year to $8.9 billion in 1998, when the number of tourist arrivals is likely to reach 6.5 million.(icn)