The Ministry of Information has started posting government news in Arabic in a bid to attract investors from the Middle East region, said a ministry spokesperson.
Meas Sophorn, an Information Ministry spokesperson, said the government was already publishing information in Khmer, English, French, Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese. The ministry started publishing in Arabic in May 2022.
He said the hope was the information would be relayed through Arabic-language news publications and would be read by potential investors. This would promote Cambodia as an investment destination, he added.
“With the news published in Arabic, we want to show the potential of Cambodia to the region using Arabic language and to the Organization of lslamic Cooperation, which has 57 countries members including countries that use Arabic,” he said.
The Organization of lslamic Cooperation, which spans four continents, bills itself as a body that represents “the collective voice of the Muslim world.”
Sophorn specifically pointed out Saudi Arabia as a potential source of investment and tourism.
Sles Nazy, director of the Cambodian Muslim Media Center, said his publication only published news in Khmer or English, and the occasional video in the Cham language. There was very little news published locally in Arabic, he said, though some Cambodian Muslims read the Quran in the language.
He said the publication of news in Arabic would help promote the country.
“This is a really good way to attract people from the Middle East. I saw most [posts] by the Ministry of Information promote the government’s strategy and also general knowledge about Cambodia’s development,” Nazy said.
