T WO prominent Cambodian women, Tioulong Saumura, Deputy Governor of the National

Bank, and Siv Samnang, Special Assistant to the Ministry of Tourism, have taken

part in an international conference on women and development in Singapore.

Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating sent a message of support to the

women taking part in the Australian/Asean Women Leaders' Conference held earlier

this month.

He said: "I am particularly pleased that there is an

opportunity for prominent women from the three Indochina countries - Cambodia,

Laos and Vietnam - to join their counterparts on this occasion."

Samnang

addressed the 90 business women from Australia and 130 Asian participants on

Cambodia's tourism potential.

She said afterwards: "There is tremendous

interest in Cambodia in this region. People from all over want to come and see

for themselves. They're interested not only in tourism but in our overall

development as well."

People are interested in investing here.

And

commenting on the impassioned speech she gave about Cambodia's natural beauty

and potential for tourism, she said: "It may sound like promotional blurb but

it's all true.

"Cambodia is such a rich country in so many ways. We have

to concentrate not on what we have been, or even on what we are - but on what we

can be - and will be!"