DILI, 11 march 2021 (TATOLI) – Timor-Leste’s Ambassador to Cambodia, Ermenegildo Kupa Lopes, said Cambodia wish to establish a civil aviation cooperation with Timor-Leste after the end of COVID-19.
The purpose of the cooperation is to allow the direct flight operation from Phnom Penh, Cambodia to Dili and link Sidney-Australia or Denpasar Bali Indonesia to ease the movement of people from both countries.
Ambassador, Ermenegildo Kupa Lopes met with the minister in charge of SSCA Mao Havannall to discussed about the civil aviation cooperation on Tuesday.
“If we look at it from a commercial calculation point of view, perhaps there still lack of passengers from Dili to Phnom Penh. For such reason the operation can establish through Australia and Indonesia in order to have large number of passengers,” he said.
According to Ambassador Lopes, before the operation is carried out, the two governments must first sign an Air Service Agreement to allow the flights to operate freely.
Regarding the CAC requested from the Cambodian Government, Ambassador Lopes said, it has been forwarded to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Timor-Leste (MNEC-TL) to be submitted to the competent ministry, The Timorese Ministry of Transport and Communication (MTC).
Ambassador Lopes also had several courtesy meetings with some of Cambodian Government members to introduce the potency on investing in Timor-Leste specially in the areas of tourism and agriculture.
Through the meeting, the Cambodian Government is willing to support Timor-Leste to develop Tourism sector in Timor-Leste, thus both countries will also sign a Memorandum of Understanding on tourism cooperation between the two countries.
He also talked about the number of Timorese to visit Cambodia to carry out a cooperative study in various sectors, this will become the reference for Timor-Leste on how to build the wealth potential of the tourism and agriculture.
Timor-Leste is a small nation in South East Asia covering a total of 15,007 square kilometres with a population of 1.29 million with Dili as its capital.
Since becoming independent in 2002, Timor-Leste is seeking to become a member of Asean and Cambodia is supporting its bid.
Even though it is a small nation, Timor-Leste is an intriguing new tourism destination that had been, pre-COVID-19, attracting an increasing number of international travellers keen to experience its coral reefs, beaches, rugged mountains and rich cultural heritage.
According to a tourism report, in 2019, Cambodia welcomed 179 Timorese visitors. However, in 11 months of 2020, there were only 20.
Journalist : Hortencio Sanchez
Editor : Francisco Simões
