VOIWORLD/Sumit Chaturvedi
Cambodia is a hidden gem that more Indians must discover — not just for travel, but for business, collaboration, and shared growth.
In an engaging conversation with Voice Of India World’s Editor-In-Chief Sumit Chaturvedi, the Honorary Consul General for Cambodia in Bangalore Mr Karthik Tallam outlines his key priorities in strengthening bilateral ties between India and Cambodia — spanning across tourism, business, and cultural engagement.
Q&A
Sumit Chaturvedi: Let’s begin by talking about your priorities as being the Honorary Council General for Cambodia and Bangalore.
Karthik Tallam: Honorary Consul
More Indians should come to Cambodia and visit that country because it’s a beautiful country, hospitality is amazing. There are several special economic zones, there are a lot of agricultural opportunities, there are a lot of opportunities in power transmission, opportunities in wind power, hydel power, thermal power, solar electricity which can be produced, micro grids. The possibilities are endless. If you look at what Cambodia is, the cities are extremely rich. One of the highest number of Rolls Royce cars are in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia.
The rich are very rich and the poor are quite poor. I would recommend every Indian to explore the opportunities which are there in Cambodia
Sumit Chaturvedi:
What are you doing to bring the countries together more and revive the business?
Karthik Tallam: Honorary Consul: Cambodia is a country purely dependent on agriculture and tourism.
The next wonder of the world is Angkor Wat Temple. Officially, the number of votes they have got, they will be able to reach that goal. The airport in Siem Reap, the city which has the Angkor Wat Temple, is very large.
They are able to get 7 million tourists in a year. I would recommend that more and more Indians start travelling there. Most of the Indians have already seen Dubai, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam. I would recommend Cambodia as the right place. In fact, travelling to Cambodia is very reasonable and affordable to a lot of people. There are enough things to do for 3-5 days in Cambodia. There are some beautiful places that you all can visit.
Sumit Chaturvedi:
Tell us something about India and Cambodia ties?
Karthik Tallam: Honorary Consul: I see a lot of cultural similarities between India and Cambodia. The more I explore about Cambodia, I feel more happier that we are so well connected for the last 2,000 years. There are very few history books which cover anything about India and Cambodia. There are not even two lines which are written about the Angkor Wat temple. It’s a 407-acre Hindu temple which is there in the middle of Cambodia. I would like more and more people from India to visit Cambodia, understand more about country, more about the cultural similarities that we have between both the countries. I would love to welcome every citizen of India to have one visit to Cambodia in their lifetimes. What are the issues that you are working on that is to, how can you, how are you further bringing down, bringing together both countries? So we have taken around eight delegations to Cambodia so far and it has been fantastic. Cambodia is one country which has been growing at the rate of 7% per annum since 1994.
WATCH VIDEO INTERVIEW OF THE HONORARY CONSUL GENERAL FOR CAMBODIA IN BANGALORE MR KARTHIK TALLAM
