Philippine Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco and Cambodian Minister of Tourism Thong Khan met at the sidelines of the United Nations World Tourism Organization joint commission meeting on June 15, 2023 in Phnom Penh to determine possible areas of cooperation.
Frasco said Cambodia is a vital partner for tourism development for the Philippines and could provide assistance on heritage conservation, management and monitoring. Cambodia is known for its three sites inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
“We greatly value the long-standing relationship between the Kingdom of Cambodia and the Republic of the Philippines as we welcome 66 years of our diplomatic relations. At the same time, we commend the Kingdom of Cambodia for your great success especially in terms of heritage conservation and management, and your ability to, on one hand, develop the tourism industry upon the strength of your heritage sites and all the other hand, ensure sustainability. Therefore, the Philippines is very interested in collaborating with Cambodia for purposes of developing joint efforts and exchange of best practices as far as heritage conservation and management,” Frasco said.
Frasco underscored the strength of the Philippines in education tourism, particularly English as a Second Language program.
“The Philippines has a very strong faculty for the English language, and we have a well-developed ESL program in the country. This is something we would love to be able to work with you on even as we are also interested in exploring how we may be able to work together in terms of medical tourism,” Frasco said.
She said the Philippines took cognizance of Cambodia’s efforts in implementing the ASEAN Mutual Recognition Arrangement on Tourism Professionals and efforts in upskilling tourism workers.
“This is a priority as well for the Philippine government; therefore, we would be interested in exploring how we can work together in further developing our tourism manpower. In addition to that, we would be very happy to work with you as far as our ESL program,” Frasco said..
Both agreed to prioritize air access and route development between the two countries.
The Philippines in 2016 signed an implementation program for tourism cooperation in memorandum of understanding with Cambodia.
Frasco said during the meeting the Philippines is open to accommodate Cambodia’s initiative to renew the agreement.
“As I understand, Cambodia is host to over 7,000 Filipinos and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the warmth and the love with which you have received the Filipino people. The same treatment awaits you and the people of Cambodia whose tourists numbers we hope to be able to grow with the signing of our implementation program,” Frasco said.