Cambodia targets direct flights to Melbourne to boost trade, education ties with Australia

The potential university collaborations and investment opportunities, could offer new education prospects for Cambodian students

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Tourists prepare to board a plane at the new Siem Reap-Angkor International Airport. Cambodia is eyeing direct flights to Melbourne, as it seeks stronger ties with Australia through trade, education, and tourism. Photo: AFP

Published: 10:00am, 5 Sep 2024

Cambodia is eyeing direct flights to Melbourne as part of a broader push to strengthen ties with Australia through expanded trade, education, and tourism partnerships, including potential university collaborations and investment opportunities.

At a key business summit in Sydney last week, Cheunboran Chanborey, Cambodia’s ambassador to Australia and New Zealand, told This Week in Asia he was hoping to establish direct flights between Cambodia and Melbourne’s Avalon airport. The initiative is in line with the opening of a new international airport in Siem Reap and the expected opening of the Techo International Airport near Phnom Penh in 2025.

The Southeast Asian nation’s interest in Avalon is connected to its growing relationship with Geelong, the state of Victoria’s second-largest city after Melbourne. This connection could offer new university education opportunities to Cambodian students and new tourism prospects, Chanborey said on the sidelines of the annual Australia-Asean Business Forum.

Geelong is the gateway to the popular Great Ocean Road tourist attraction, while Siem Reap is Cambodia’s tourism hub, he added.

“The bilateral relationship [between Cambodia and Australia] has grown from strength to strength over the years,” Chanborey said, adding that Australia is home to the world’s third-biggest Cambodian diaspora.

Cambodia aims to boost ties with Australia through direct flights to Melbourne. Photo: Melbourne Airport/Facebook

“Many Cambodian students have graduated from Australia and the Australian alumni in Cambodia are growing and powerful too. I think at least three deputy prime ministers are part of the Australian alumni,” he said.