French broadcaster opens office in Cambodia

Radio France International (RFI) has launched its office in Phnom Penh ahead of the country’s national elections in July.

RFI has also increasing hours of its Khmer language broadcasts from one to fourteen hours a day. 

Presiding over the opening of the new RFI office, Information Minister Excellency Khieu Kanharith said the government permitted RFI to open its Cambodia office because it deemed the French broadcaster is professional.

The minister says, “There are two broadcasters that we think are professional. One is Radio France International and the other is ABC Australia. Their analyses are accurate. Not everything is wrong and everything is against the government. That’s why the government has decided to allow RFI to open its office in Cambodia so that our Khmer people will understand what a real professional press is.”

RFI president Marie Christine Saragosse said the French government decided to increase Khmer language broadcasts because of the success and popularity of the one-hour broadcast.  

 
The French government-owned RFI received a broadcasting license from the Cambodian government in 1992.