PHNOM PENH: President of the Senate of Cambodia, Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen, called on here this morning the Qatari side to open an embassy in Cambodia and reconnect flight between the two nations to further enhance trade, investment, and tourism.

Samdech Techo Hun Sen made the request when he received a courtesy call from H.E. Khalid Ali Abdullah Abel, Ambassador to the State of Qatar to Cambodia.

Qatar is a rich nation; therefore, she should open an embassy here rather than a residence in another country, he said, recalling the establishment of diplomatic relations between both countries since 2008 when Prime Minister of Qatar paid a visit to Cambodia.

On the occasion, Samdech Techo Hun Sen also laid stress on Qatar’s relations with ASEAN as Qatar signed the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation when Cambodia held the ASEAN chairmanship in 2022.

The Cambodian senate president reminded that Qatar should resume Qatar Airlines’ flights after being suspended since the COVID-19 outbreak to allow people-to-people contacts as well as bring visitors from the Middle East and Europe to Cambodia, and brings visitors from Cambodia and the ASEAN region back to Qatar.

Samdech Techo Hun Sen encouraged Qatar to consider the possibility to sign a bilateral free trade agreement, as Cambodia has done with China, Republic of Korea, and Saudi Arabia.

For his part, H.E. Khalid Ali Abdullah Abel pledged to do his best to bring the diplomatic relations between the two nations to a higher level and expand the bilateral relations mainly in the field of food security as Cambodia is a food producing country.

The ambassador also promised to encourage investors from Qatar to Cambodia and vice versa to study the possibility of investment cooperation. He also mentioned the areas of interest for Qatar investors such as oil, gas, infrastructure, hospital and airport construction, and so on.