South Korea to build Cambodia’s civil aviation training centre

South Korea to build Cambodia’s civil aviation training centre

PHNOM PENH, 19 March 2012 (PRU) – His Excellency Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Sok An welcomed South Korea’s assistance for building a civil aviation training centre, which will boost tourism.

Cambodia received 2,881,862 tourists last year and expects this to increase by 20 percent a year. South Korean tourism is ranked second, after Vietnam, and China is third.

Dr. Sok An told Dr. Shin Eui-cheol, the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) representative in Cambodia, on Monday that the Royal Government is ready to facilitate the Korean survey team to ensure the project succeeds.

Dr. Shin Eui-cheol said in the meeting that the team plans to conduct a feasibility study, after which an MOU would be signed later this year. Construction of the centre is expected next year.

The Cambodian side will help the team by collecting data, which Dr. Sok An called “using local content”. Other stakeholders, including Societe Concessionaire de l’Aeroport and Cambodia Air Traffic Services, will also be consulted concerning the project.

The government of the Republic of Korea will equip the centre, where South Korean experts will train Cambodian experts who work in Cambodia’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) how to improve their performance.

The Deputy Prime Minister, in response, said that the centre would be located west of Phnom Penh on about one hectare of land.

Dr. Sok An said that Cambodia is pleased with this support for the CAA, because South Korea is rated by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) among the top ten in the world. “CAA has to improve so that we will get a good rating in the future”, he said.

Dr. Shin Eui-cheol agreed, “I hope that this project will succeed and hope that CAA will achieve a top ten rating”.

The two agreed that South Korean experts should continue to assist Cambodian experts until Cambodians are able to handle such operations. Both were pleased with the bilateral cooperation and relations since KOICA opened an office in Phnom Penh in 1992.

Source: Press and Quick Reaction Unit of the Office of the Council of Ministers

http://www.pressocm.gov.kh/inside.php?view=detail&story=2327

Date: 20-March - 2012