ASEAN HEADLINE: TOURISM | Prime Minister Hun Manet (PM) refutes rumours of Vietnamese taxis in Kingdom
FREE ASEAN – FREE MYANMAR/CAMBODIA/THAILAND – FREE Aung San Suu Kyi
Prime Minister Hun Manet has warned against the mobilisation of protesters based on the false information that the government has given licence to Vietnamese or Chinese electric taxi companies to operate in Cambodia.
.
.
Memento Maxima Digital Marketing“I just received a report that a group of people are mobilising taxi drivers to protest against the government and are accusing the government of allowing Vietnamese and Chinese electric taxi companies to operate in Cambodia,” posted Mr Hun Manet to Telegram.
“I have already refuted this point, back in December, 2023, when I met with Cambodians in Japan. We have never announced the licencing of electric taxi companies to do business in Cambodia, and Cambodia does not have any need to allow foreign companies to operate taxis locally,” he said. “The government in the seventh mandate has taken care of people who are engaged in informal economic jobs such as moto drivers, taxi drivers, tuk tuk drivers and many other informal occupations.”
“Therefore, people who rely on the informal economy should not believe in the incitement of crooks who want to cause unrest in society,” he added.
The remarks were made after US-based media outlet VOD Khmer reported: “Prime Minister Hun Manet paved the way for the business of electric vehicles after last year’s refusal to allow Vietnamese companies to transport passengers to three economic zones in Cambodia using 2,500 electric vehicles”.
Mr Hun Manet refuted these reports and said that some clever people were pretending to be stupid to gain political benefit.
“If you continue to use this distorted information maliciously by mobilising people to protest, you will be punished by the law. The government will not allow you to do anything that causes social unrest, in particular, dishonest actions that lead to the destruction of social order for the benefit of their political interests,” he added.
About 100 of the representatives of the Informal Economy Association in Siem Reap province yesterday released a short video announcing their support for Mr Hun Manet’s statements.
They announced that they will not join the mobilisation of taxi drivers to take part in anti-government protests and they warned that the protests are illegal.
“We do not participate in demonstrations where the mobilisation of criminals is illegal. We do not believe in the incitement of these groups, which is causing social unrest, and we condemn those individuals who attempt to rally against the government,” they said.
Mr Hun Manet rejected a plan by Vietnam’s VinGroup to set up an electric taxi business in the Kingdom using VinFast EVs.
VinGroup Chairman Pham Nhat Vuong made the proposal following a meeting in Hanoi with Mr Hun Manet on December 12, 2023, during his first official visit to Vietnam since becoming prime minister.
A Cambodian government announcement, carried by the local media two days later, stated: “On December 13, 2023, some media outlets reported that Vietnam’s Vingroup was planning to launch 2,500 electric taxis in Phnom Penh, Preah Sihanouk and Siem Reap provinces. This information has attracted the attention of some social media players and has been shared, causing some people to misunderstand that the company will open a business in Cambodia in 2024.”
Vietnam’s state-controlled media have not reported on the latest developments.
VinGroup set up a similar business in Laos in October, 2023, after debuting its electric taxi service in Vietnam’s Hanoi in April through the Green and Smart Mobility Joint Stock Company.
.
@[email protected]
