The ‘9th River Festival 2025’ (March 21-23) kicked off in Takeo province on Friday
Prime Minister Hun Manet Saturday asked relevant ministries and institutions to collaborate in strengthening the capacity of communities in tourism areas to better understand hospitality and provide support services to attract more tourists.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 9th River Festival 2025 (March 21-23) in Takeo province themed ‘The Value of Rivers: Linking Culture and Natural Tourism,’ attended by ministry leaders, diplomatic officials, private sector and hundreds of citizens, Mr Hun Manet attributed Cambodia becoming an attractive destination for tourism, investment, and trade in Asia to peace and stability achieved over the past 27 years under the Win-Win Policy of former Prime Minister Hun Sen.
The tourism sector became a key driver of Cambodia’s economic progress over the past 30 years, contributing to a nearly 13-fold increase in the economy compared to 1993, he said.
The Premier highlighted that over the past decade, Cambodia’s tourism sector has grown into a source of national pride, significantly promoting domestic products. Strengthening the capacity of local communities is a key step in ensuring their success with the resources available in their areas before seeking private sector investment.
“Strengthening partnerships between the public and private sectors are essential to tackling challenges in the tourism sector as a whole. I urge all relevant ministries to cooperate closely with the Ministry of Tourism to realize our vision and promote tourism-related initiatives that will contribute to Cambodia’s competitiveness and boost the economic value of tourism,” Mr Hun Manet emphasized.
He added that a high capacity of community does not mean that additional investment is unnecessary, but rather that it involves helping one another to address the shortcomings and needs of tourists.
“Before seeking investment from the private sector, we must first focus on strengthening community capacity. If communities are already successful in a particular area, they are already offering valuable products,” said Mr Hun Manet.
He went on to add that this does not mean prevent private sector investment, because community capacity alone cannot cover all areas. Where the community can manage, let them, but in some cases, external investment is necessary.
“If a tourist area has a community capable of providing sufficient support services, additional investment may not be necessary. However, if the community lacks the capacity to meet the needs of tourists, further investment will be required,” he added.
Minister of Tourism (MoT) Huot Hak said that the government issued a sub-decree in 2014, setting out the organisation of the River Festival with the aim of creating tourism events for the Mekong River provinces and inspiring the masses to participate in the conservation of natural resources along the river, as well as promoting the development of the provinces along the river to become attractive and potential tourism hubs.
The River Festival is a great opportunity to encourage all stakeholders to participate in the competition for clean cities, clean resorts, good services and good hospitality, he said.
“The theme of the 2025 River Festival is particularly fitting for Takeo Province, one of the oldest provinces in Cambodia and considered the birthplace of Khmer culture. It holds great potential for historical, cultural, and natural tourism, with many ancient architectural sites. Takeo province is also an important transit province for the historical Funan Techo River project,” said Hak.
“The Royal Government has consistently focused on encouraging and promoting tourism in the country. In fact, Prime Minister Hun Manet has introduced many key measures to help tourism operators restore the Cambodian tourism sector, which has been severely affected by the Covid-19 crisis, with the aim of further promoting the development of tourism in terms of both quantity and quality.”
According to the MoT report, the Kingdom welcomed 6.7 million foreign tourists, a year-on-year increase of 22.9 percent, and attracted 22.52 million domestic tourism movements, up 20.1 percent. The ministry has set a target of welcoming 7.5 million foreign tourists by 2025.
