AKP, September 13, 2017 – Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia, has highlighted the significance of the ASEAN-China Expo held annually in Nanning city, Guangxi province of China.
Addressing to the opening ceremony of the 14th ASEAN-China Expo at Nanning International Convention and Exhibition Centre yesterday, Samdech Techo Hun Sen said this event does not only provide an opportunity for Heads of State/Government, Chinese and ASEAN business leaders, and entrepreneurs from other countries to discuss and exchange ideas to strengthen and expand the trade and investment sectors, but also is a platform contributing to tightening bilateral and multilateral cooperation and increasing trade opportunities between participating countries.
From one year to another, the forum is becoming more and more important for the region and is in line with the positive development cooperation between China and ASEAN, he said, underlining that this year’s theme will promote China and ASEAN as well as Asia as a whole to become an attractive and competitive region.
According to the Cambodian premier, the ASEAN-China two-way trade reached US$452 billion in 2016. Almost 20 million Chinese tourists travelled to ASEAN, up 6.4 percent, while more than 10 million ASEAN tourists visited China, up 57.8 percent over 2015.
Samdech Techo Hun Sen stressed that the dramatic growth of tourism sector has contributed to the promotion of ASEAN-China deeper economic integration and strong connectivity. Moreover, he added, tourism has boosted the people-to-people connectivity, a basic foundation to make the 21st Silk Road stronger toward the regional integration.
By Khan Sophirom
