Tourism Minister Pandey discusses direct flights from Cambodia

 Kathmandu, Mar. 19

Minister for Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation, Badri Prasad Pandey, has held discussions on the potential for establishing a religious tourism network, launching direct flights between Nepal and Cambodia, and collaborating on the development of the Greater Buddha Circuit.

During his visit to Cambodia, Minister Pandey discussed these possibilities during separate meetings on Tuesday with Cambodia’s Minister for Tourism, Hout Hak, and Minister for Culture and Religious Affairs, Chay Borin.

During discussions at Cambodia’s Ministries of Tourism, and Culture and Religious Affairs, Minister Pandey said that cultural and religious similarities could form the basis for future cooperation in developing shared pilgrimage sites and a religious tourism network between the two nations, the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation of Nepal informed in a statement on Wednesday.

He expressed confidence that establishing direct air connectivity between Nepal and Cambodia would significantly facilitate visits by Cambodian religious tourists to Lumbini, Buddha’s birthplace.

During the meeting, Minister Pandey talked about the historical ties between Nepal and Cambodia and the importance of bilateral tourism cooperation. “The histories and religious traditions of Cambodia and Nepal are deeply intertwined,” he said.

Recalling that both Nepal and Cambodia have experienced periods of conflict and struggle, he highlighted how Nepal could learn valuable lessons from Cambodia’s post-conflict development progress.

Likewise, Minister Pandey said that major religious sites such as Lumbini, Muktinath, and Janaki Temple in Nepal, along with Cambodia’s Angkor Wat, represent shared cultural and spiritual heritage. “Our religious and cultural perspectives reflect remarkable similarities, and we share a common spirit of religious tolerance and harmony,” he maintained.

Both parties engaged in discussions on enhancing religious and cultural tourism partnerships and reached an understanding that the introduction of direct flights between Nepal and Cambodia could significantly improve tourist movement between the two countries.

Discussions were also held on the possibility of collaborating on the Greater Buddha Circuit project as well.

Referring to Cambodia’s construction of the largest airport in the Asia region, Minister Pandey noted that this development would shorten the physical distance between Nepal and Cambodia.

He also mentioned that Nepal has provided special incentives for airlines operating flights to newly built international airports in Bhairahawa and Pokhara, facilitating their operations.

The Cambodian delegation expressed gratitude to Nepal for allocating space in Lumbini for the construction of a Cambodian Stupa. They also emphasised the need to establish a working group at the ambassadorial and administrative levels to identify areas of bilateral cooperation and execution modalities.

 Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 20 March 2025.