AKP Phnom Penh, October 7, 2026 --

Cambodia’s Ministry of Information and digital media platform The Better Cambodia have identified four strategic areas of cooperation aimed at enhancing the Kingdom's brand and visibility among international audiences.

The collaboration will focus on supporting The Better Cambodia’s initiatives, facilitating legal access to state media content, promoting international tourism, and advancing human resource development.

The strategic directions were outlined during a bilateral meeting on Tuesday at the Ministry of Information in Phnom Penh between Minister of Information H.E. Neth Pheaktra, The Better Cambodia founder Mr. Surya Narayan, and co-founder Ms. Dhanita Nair.

During the meeting, Minister H.E. Neth Pheaktra expressed readiness to facilitate the platform's operations and urged the establishment of formal cooperation frameworks with state media institutions. This includes enabling legal rights to leverage photos, videos, and news articles produced by official outlets, particularly the Agence Kampuchea Presse (AKP) and National Television of Cambodia (TVK).

He recommended that The Better Cambodia finalise a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with AKP and TVK to institutionalise content-sharing arrangements.

Furthermore, H.E. Neth Pheaktra encouraged the platform to utilise existing official data and multimedia assets regarding government policies, socio-economic developments, tourism, and local livelihoods to project an accurate and dynamic image of modern Cambodia to the global community.

Highlighting India as a high-potential source market for tourism due to deep-rooted historical and cultural ties, the Minister urged greater coverage of shared religious, cultural, and spiritual heritage between the two nations to drive inbound Indian travel.

In response, Mr. Surya Narayan noted that The Better Cambodia, established in 2023, aims to highlight the nation's potential, investment opportunities, and developmental milestones to an international audience. The platform regularly covers government policies, economic opportunities, historical narratives, and community leaders, including a dedicated "Unsung Heroes" feature highlighting local changemakers.

According to Mr. Narayan, the platform currently attracts around 60,000 monthly readers, primarily from India, Singapore, and the United States. Beyond news coverage, the outlet facilitates business connections between Cambodian and Indian enterprises – specifically across agriculture and healthcare – while expanding into video production, podcasts, and media training focused on English proficiency and constructive journalism.

Addressing human capital development, co-founder Ms. Dhanita Nair detailed ongoing initiatives with local entities to enhance workforce capability and align vocational training with international benchmarks.

Minister H.E. Neth Pheaktra welcomed the capacity-building initiatives, noting that the Ministry is prepared to coordinate training programmes with Indian institutions for Ministry officials and local journalists, building on existing scholarship and professional development frameworks provided by India.

Both sides agreed to maintain close communication to formulate concrete action plans across the four priority areas, with plans to finalise a formal partnership agreement to maximise the reach and impact of Cambodia’s global communications strategy.

By K. Rithy Reak