Tourists visit Angkor Wat temple in Siem Reap province. A French firm will open a new international terminal at Siem Reap airport, the gateway to the Angkor Wat temples, which Cambodia hopes will attract more tourists to the impoverished nation.(AFP/File/Chhin Sothy Tang)PHNOM PENH (AFP) - A French firm will open a new international terminal at Siem Reap airport, the gateway to the Angkor Wat temples, which Cambodia hopes will attract more tourists to the impoverished nation.
Visiting French transport minister Dominique Perben will unveil the new terminal at Siem Reap International Airport, where most tourists arrive to visit the famed Angkor Wat complex.
Cambodian tourism minister Lay Prohas said he welcomed the new terminal, which France says will help increase both tourism and investment to the country.
"It is a very good thing, we have been waiting for this for so long. We are so proud to have it," he told AFP. "The key to developing tourism is to have international airports."
Cambodia is one of the world's poorest countries, and tourism focussed on Angkor Wat is a rapidly growing industry bringing in much-needed revenue.
More than 1.4 million tourists arrived in 2005, and the government aims to attract three million per year by 2010.
Lay Prohas said that tourist arrivals in Cambodia had increased year-on-year and were expected to jump 35 percent in 2006.
A statement released by the French government said that there were nearly 860,000 arrivals in the kingdom by air in 2005, compared to 230,000 in 1999.
One challenge is persuading tourists to stay longer and visit sights other than the World Heritage-listed Angkor temples.
Perben, who arrived in Cambodia late Friday on a four-day trip, told a press conference Saturday that "airports and tourism are inextricably linked, and this support will help Cambodia develop" its tourism industry.
He will spend Sunday visiting the ancient temples.
Siem Reap International Airport is run by the French firm Societe Concessionnaire des Aeroports (SCA), a subsidiary of the VINCI group, and has a contract to operate the airport until 2040.
The company also has concessions for airports in the capital Phnom Penh and in the coastal city of Sihanoukville.
A SCA spokesman told AFP that Sihanoukville's new international airport in due to open late this year or early 2007.
France is Cambodia's second-largest donor after Japan, and French companies are heavily involved in the transport, tourism and telecom sectors.
The two countries officially relaunched bilateral ties in September 2005 when Hun Sen visited Paris and signed a cooperation accord lasting until 2010.
Visiting French transport minister Dominique Perben will unveil the new terminal at Siem Reap International Airport, where most tourists arrive to visit the famed Angkor Wat complex.
Cambodian tourism minister Lay Prohas said he welcomed the new terminal, which France says will help increase both tourism and investment to the country.
"It is a very good thing, we have been waiting for this for so long. We are so proud to have it," he told AFP. "The key to developing tourism is to have international airports."
Cambodia is one of the world's poorest countries, and tourism focussed on Angkor Wat is a rapidly growing industry bringing in much-needed revenue.
More than 1.4 million tourists arrived in 2005, and the government aims to attract three million per year by 2010.
Lay Prohas said that tourist arrivals in Cambodia had increased year-on-year and were expected to jump 35 percent in 2006.
A statement released by the French government said that there were nearly 860,000 arrivals in the kingdom by air in 2005, compared to 230,000 in 1999.
One challenge is persuading tourists to stay longer and visit sights other than the World Heritage-listed Angkor temples.
Perben, who arrived in Cambodia late Friday on a four-day trip, told a press conference Saturday that "airports and tourism are inextricably linked, and this support will help Cambodia develop" its tourism industry.
He will spend Sunday visiting the ancient temples.
Siem Reap International Airport is run by the French firm Societe Concessionnaire des Aeroports (SCA), a subsidiary of the VINCI group, and has a contract to operate the airport until 2040.
The company also has concessions for airports in the capital Phnom Penh and in the coastal city of Sihanoukville.
A SCA spokesman told AFP that Sihanoukville's new international airport in due to open late this year or early 2007.
France is Cambodia's second-largest donor after Japan, and French companies are heavily involved in the transport, tourism and telecom sectors.
The two countries officially relaunched bilateral ties in September 2005 when Hun Sen visited Paris and signed a cooperation accord lasting until 2010.
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