Gareth Johnson
Cambodia’s first-ever cross chamber golf tournament dubbed the ‘Chambers and Friends Golf Tournament’ has ended in a three-way tie with placements having to be decided by countback.
The event hosted at Garden City Golf Course in Phnom Penh attracted 72 players including senior government officials, members of the international diplomatic corps, and leading business figures.
The day was co-organized by five leading international business chambers and aimed to create a platform to build closer relations among members, networking opportunities between the international business communities, and of course, enjoy a day of golf.
To read more about cross chamber collaboration click here
Founding members of the tournament are the American Chamber of Commerce, the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce, the Japan Business Association, the Korean Chamber of Commerce, and the Malaysian Chamber of Commerce.
The official winner of the tournament was Park Cheon Gil CEO of ChokChey Finance and KoCham member, the runner-up was Kenny Lim CEO of Massive Beverages and KoCham members, and third place was awarded to Lee Yong Mann Joint-CEO of Phillip Bank.
All three players achieved the same net score of 73 with a count backs comparing the players’ scores over a range of holes, starting with the back 9 holes to determine the winner.
The player with the lowest gross score was H.E. Ly Tuch Cambodian Mine Action & Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA) First Vice President who shoot 75 over the 18-hole course.
Chambers and Friends Golf Tournament brings together both the public and private sector
Senior members from the Cambodian government in attendance included Minister of Industry H. E. Cham Prasidh, and Cambodian Mine Action & Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA) First Vice President H.E. Ly Thuch.
Ambassadors from various nations also included Japan Ambassador H.E. Mikami Masahiro, Malaysia Ambassador H.E. Eldeen Husaini Mohd Hashim, Brunei Ambassador H.E. Pengiran Kasmirhan bin Pengiran Haji Tahir, Indonesia Ambassador H.E. Sudirman Haseng and Republic of Korea Ambassador H.E. Park Heung-kyeong.
Major sponsors of the event were Prince Holding Group as well as, Prince Bank, Prince Brewing, Speedwind Distributions, Massive Distributions, Livin Trees, Royal Enfield – TF Motors, Singapore Airlines, Aquarii, Ecgolfhouse, Huawei, Adidas Golf, Holiday Palace Sihanoukville, and Bob & Chnang Gifts.
Cambodia Investment Review and Khmer Times were the exclusive media partners for the event.
Long term potential for the tournament
Dalton Wong IndoCham President and Executive Chairman of Speedwind Distributions thanked those in attendance as well as the sponsoring companies for the fantastic turnout adding he hoped to see everyone again in another six months.
“This cross-chamber tournament is a great example of the Indonesian phrase Bhinneka Tunggal Ika “Unity in Diversity” [one is more] a founding principle of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce,” he said.
The fact that the inaugural tournament was successfully organized in under two months following a 17 March 2022 lunch meeting between the five business chambers was a strong testament to the benefits of working together for common cause.
Dalton credited Michael Tan of Aquarii BD Cambodia and IndoCham’s official advisor, and Pak Candra Tanpatti of EC Golf House for helping to conceptualize, coordinate and implement the uniquely successful event.
“I would also like to thank Prince Holding Group as the major sponsor and other sponsoring companies for their support with the tournament that connects leading representatives of business groups across Cambodia,” he added.
Gabriel Tan, Chief Communications Officer of Prince Holding Group, said: “Prince Holding Group is proud to sponsor a tournament that allows all of us in Cambodia to celebrate the Kingdom’s re-opening of borders at a well-organized event,”
To read more about Prince Holding Group click here.
“As a fast-growing business group that is keen to work with different communities and drive inclusivity in Cambodia, we are happy to see the solidarity on display within the corporate sector as we work together to contribute to Cambodian economic recovery,” he added.
Cambodia’s international business chambers have previously met to discuss fostering better relationships as a group as well as bilateral discussions to enhance private sector working groups that can better enhance the local business environment.
