National Olympic Committee of Cambodia top brass accompanied as many as 40 gold medallists from various regional and international competitions over the years to the Senate House on Tuesday morning for a meeting with Senate President Say Chhum.

Chhum was presented with an overview of the local sports scene and the Kingdom’s outstanding successes before the Khmer New Year celebrations are due kick off in earnest at the end of the week.

NOCC President and Tourism Minister Thong Khon led the delegation and apprised Chhum of ongoing sports development activities and the results Cambodia has achieved under the leadership of sport-loving Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has been one of the staunchest supporters of the country’s sporting community.

‘Pride for the nation’

After meeting with the delegation and going through the report presented by the NOCC chief, Chhum expressed his deep appreciation for the country’s prime sports body in vigorously carrying out the government’s policies in the development of the sports sector.

“The fruitful results achieved by our athletes have come as a great honour and pride for the nation as a whole,” he said.

Chhum told the delegation that Prime Minister Hun Sen’s policies and his active involvement in development projects had given a big boost for sport in the Kingdom.

“The decision by the Prime Minister to increase by as much as 200 per cent the financial rewards for outstanding performers in 2013 through a government sub-decree inspired and motivated our athletes to raise their performance levels,” he said.

Wishing the country’s sportsmen and women far greater success in the future, the Senate President also hailed the premier’s initiatives in infrastructure development through the sprawling Morodok Decho Sports Complex, which will be the centrepiece of the action during the 2023 SEA Games that Cambodia will be hosting for the first time.