Korea-funded aviation training center opens in Cambodia

Mao Havannal, right, Cambodia’s secretary of state for civil aviation, gives an appreciation plaque to Park Soon-chun, a sales director at the Korea Airports Corp., during an opening ceremony for an aviation training center. / Courtesy of the Korea Airports Corp.

By Jung Min-ho

Korea’s years of effort to pass on its aviation knowhow to Cambodia came to fruition last week when the latter opened its first Civil Aviation Training Center (CATC) in Phnom Penh.

According the Korea Airports Corp. (KAC) and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), about 1,000 people, including Cambodian Defense Minister Tea Banh and Secretary of State for Civil Aviation Mao Havannal, attended the opening event March 23 to celebrate the accomplishment.

The KAC teamed up with KOICA in 2013 to provide the Southeast Asian country with facilities and education programs to train its future aviation experts.

The KAC hopes the training center will enable Cambodians to train their own aviation safety managers and technicians without depending on overseas training programs.

Civil aviation safety management requires sophisticated control and technology both from within the aircraft and on the ground. But many developing nations lack the knowhow and technology to train people for the job.

Air traffic control simulators are installed at the Civil Aviation Training Center in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. / Korea Times photo by Jung Min-ho

So the two organizations’ world-class human resources were put toward helping Cambodia. They allocated a budget of 11 billion won ($10 million) to support the project.

Citing the $600,000 that Korea received from the United Nations in 1984 to build its civil aviation training center, KAC President Sung Il-hwan said he is glad to “give back.”

“Korea was a beneficiary of such help 30 years ago. It is great that we finally gave it back to another country,” he said in a statement. “We want to continue to share our knowhow with more countries in Southeast Asia and Africa.”

In recent years, tourism has grown into one of the most important sectors in Cambodia’s economy, drawing people from around the world to its cultural attractions such as Angkor Wat. Meanwhile, the issue of enhancing its aviation management and educational systems has become increasingly important to maintain the upward trend.

According to Cambodian media, the number of visitors arriving at Cambodia’s international airports grew at an average of 8 percent per year from 2008 to 2016, increasing from about 2.5 million to 7 million people.

KOICA said it expects the training center to help the country’s tourism industry.

With cutting-edge air traffic control simulators installed at the center, trainees can prepare for emergencies, such as misleading information, foreign objects, lightning and bird strikes.

The KAC and KOICA said they will continue to help the CATC to enhance its systems.