PHNOM PENH: Minister of Public Works and Transport of Cambodia and Chairman of the ASEAN Transport Ministers' Meeting Senior Minister Sun Chanthol has stated that the ASEAN Dialogue and the ASEAN Development Partnership continue to play an increasingly important role in supporting the transportation agenda. He has reckoned that a strong and sustainable partnership with dialogue and development partners must be strengthened and expanded to address new challenges that may arise in the future.

The 27th ASEAN Transport Ministers' Meeting presented via Remote Video on Thursday morning was hosted by Cambodia and will culminate on 12 November. The meeting was attended by the Minister of Transport of the Republic of Indonesia and Vice-Chairman of the 27th ASEAN Transport Ministers' Meeting Mr. Budi Karya Sumadi, and the Secretary-General of ASEAN, as well as the Minister of Transport of ASEAN Mr. Dato Lim Jock Hoi. The meeting was also attended by the Prime Minister of Cambodia and starts the meeting with a preliminary remarks.

Senior Minister Sun Chanthol has emphasized that the outbreak of Covid-19 has overwhelmed the world, affecting all sectors of industry, all aspects of life, and causing unprecedented economic and financial losses and has made the future uncertain.

The aviation and tourism industry have been hit hardest, as statistics from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has showed that global passenger traffic fell by 53.1 percent in July 2021 from a month earlier. July 2019 Airport revenue incurred more than $ 108 billion at the end of 2021.

But due to the Covid-19 vaccination campaign, the world economy is slowly recovering from the epidemic and some ASEAN member states are gradually reopening their economies and societies with new normal measures strictly enforced.

The Senior Minister has expressed his gratitude and appreciation to the ASEAN Secretariat and the Cambodian side for their continuous support and timely response in making the 27th Ministerial Meeting on Transport a success.