Vietnam invests 200 mln USD on Cambodian Air, banking

PHNOM PENH, July 26 (Xinhua) -- A signing ceremony was held on Sunday by Cambodia and Vietnam on the establishment of Cambodian Air Carrier which was a joint venture between Vietnam Airline and National Cambodia Air Carrier namely Cambodia Angkor Air.

"Vietnamese side has invested 100 million U.S. dollars capital in Cambodia Angkor air," Sok An, deputy prime minister and minister in charge of the Council of Ministers, said at the signing ceremony which was presided over by Prime Minister Hun Senand visiting Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Truong Vinh Trong, who is also representative of the prime minister of Vietnam.

"Cambodia will have 51 percent share and Vietnamese side controls 49 percent," Sok An said, adding that the Cambodian new airline will help to push the tourism sector in the Kingdom while the world has met with global economic and financial crisis. The Vietnamese investment on Cambodia Angkor Air will be processed for30 years, Sok An said.

Meanwhile, Vietnam has also invested another 100 million U.S. dollars to open the Bank for Development and Investment of Vietnamand Insurance sector in Cambodia.

This investment has showed the confidence from Vietnamese side on the economic growth of Cambodia, Sok An said, adding that it is the pride of the country that we have our own national flag in aircarrier. He stressed that the new airline we will launch the official flight tomorrow.

Prime Minister Hun Sen said at the ceremony that "I would like to urge the new Cambodia Angkor Air to strengthen the management on safety and security for all travelers".

Additionally, Thong Khong, Cambodian Tourism Minister told reporters that tourism is one of the key sector in the country and"this year we expected to have two to three percent increase on this sector." For the first six month of this year, the tourism sector decreased about one percent across the country, however, incapital Phnom Penh it has increased 14 to 16 percent so far.

Last year, Cambodia achieved about two million of the foreign tourists.