Cambodia Town organized a reception to welcome Carrol Rodley, US Ambassador to Cambodia, to Cambodia Town District in the City of Long Beach, California, USA in December 2009. There were approximately 400 people, including elected officials and friends of Cambodian Community, attended the reception. Below is a speech of Sithea San, Chair of Cambodia Town Inc.
"Good evening, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for coming to this very special event tonight. This is a memorable day for the Cambodian community in Long Beach-- the first visit by the U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia after the official designation on July 3, 2007 of the first Cambodia Town District in the nation—right here in the City of Long Beach, California. On behalf of the Cambodia Town Board of Directors and Council Members and the Ambassador Circle of Giving Members, I sincerely welcome Ambassador Carol Rodley to Cambodia Town District and thank her for her commitment to strengthening ties between Cambodia and the United States.
Building bonds of peace and prosperity between Cambodia and the United States begins with vision, but takes hold with dialogue and action. Since its inception, Cambodia Town has worked closely with the Cambodian-American Chamber of Commerce; the Long Beach-Phnom Penh Sister Cities; the Cambodian Culture and Arts Association; and Cambodian-Coordinating Councils to strengthen business and trade activities; to promote dialogue between the Cambodian and U.S. governments; and to encourage educational and cultural exchange programs.
Every year Cambodia Town USA takes part of inviting representatives from the National Cambodian Rice Miller Association; the Cambodian Small and Medium Size Enterprise; and the provincial Cambodian Chamber of Commerce to United States for business networking and touring of such businesses as the Farm and Construction Equipment Company. We extend invitations to Cambodian government officials to the U.S. to facilitate dialogue between them and elected officials here. We also have organized trade missions and taken people from the U.S. to Cambodia to meet and visit members of business groups, non-governmental organization, law makers, and Government officials in Cambodia. These efforts were initiated by Ambassador Charles Ray in 2005 and then continued with the support of Ambassador Joseph Mussomeli.
Fifteen years ago none of us in this room could imagine any of these activities would be possible. Yet today we live at a time when we can travel back and forth and personally forge ties with the Cambodian people, giving us the ability to share the democratic principles that we have come to learn and respect as we rebuilt our lives in the United States.
However, there is more work to be done. Cambodia Town would like very much to encourage Ambassador Rodley to continue to support the efforts to promote peace, education, culture and business exchange between Cambodia and the United States. We specifically would like to facilitate visa requests for the purpose of building bridges between our nations. Cambodia Town has created a network of organizations prepared to facilitate these goals.
We strongly believe that the future of Cambodia and U.S. relations depends upon educational, cultural and business exchange. With the support of Ambassador Rodley we can help to secure the peace and prosperity of Cambodia and the growth of Cambodia Town, which is the legacy all of us envision leaving for the next generation here and abroad. Last but not least, I would like to thank Reception Committee for making this special event happened.
Thank you
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Third Anniversary of CambodiaTownby croucher1217735 views
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