“A New Page”: Ambassador Olivier Richard Charts the Franco-Cambodian Future at His First Bastille Day Reception in Phnom Penh

For his first Bastille Day reception in Cambodia, French Ambassador Olivier Richard chose to look far ahead. Before an audience of ministers, diplomats and members of the French community, he laid out, on Monday evening, the picture of a 2026 unlike any other, one in which “we have the chance to write a new page” in the history of relations between Paris and Phnom Penh.

The French Ambassador to Cambodia, Olivier Richard, at the Bastille Day reception in Phnom Penh

A Packed Room for a Special Evening

The reception brought together, under one roof, members of the royal family, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, several other ministers and secretaries of state, members of Parliament, heads of public institutions, the full diplomatic corps posted in Phnom Penh, as well as advisors for French citizens abroad and numerous members of the French community. A gathering befitting the scale of the year ahead, between the Francophonie Summit and a state visit.

Olivier Richard opened his remarks by noting that this was his very first Bastille Day celebrated in Cambodia, before thanking the teams mobilised on both the French and Cambodian sides to prepare for a year he described as demanding as much as it is exciting.

A Pivotal Year for the Francophonie

Before members of the royal family, ministers and secretaries of state, the diplomatic corps and representatives of the French community in Cambodia gathered for the national holiday, the ambassador first set the event in context: Cambodia will host the 20th Francophonie Summit this year, the first time the event returns to Asia in 29 years. “It is high time [...] that the Francophonie Summit returned to Asia,” he said, praising “the ever-welcoming Phnom Penh,” chosen to host the event from 15 November 2026.

A milestone he presented as a reciprocal gift: that of introducing “the beauty of Cambodia to half the planet,” just as the country prepares to welcome another major event, the visit of the French President, sixty years after that of General de Gaulle and thirty-three years after that of President François Mitterrand — a visit he described as “far from anonymous, but rather an opportunity.”

A Bilateral Relationship Ready to Be Redrawn

For the ambassador, this presidential visit offers “the opportunity to redraw the contours and redefine the outlook” of the relationship between the two countries. He recalled the progress made by Cambodia since the Paris Agreements, before referring to the shared will, championed by President Emmanuel Macron and the Cambodian Prime Minister, to make this visit “the marker of this evolution, the moment that brings together existing momentum and creates new momentum.”

This ambition, he explained, spans numerous sectors already mobilised on both sides: the French language, education, research, investment, development aid, trade, defence, heritage and contemporary forms of artistic expression.

The ambassador stressed that these efforts were already represented, that very evening, by the actors themselves: “all these sectors are represented today on both the Cambodian and French sides,” he observed, seeing in this the sign of a partnership that is not confined to official speeches but is embodied by teams already at work on the ground.

A Tribute to the French Community of Cambodia

Olivier Richard paid tribute to the French people of Cambodia and the Cambodian French, whom he described as “a bridge between our two countries.” “Thank you for what you do and for what you will continue to do,” he added, before thanking the Deputy Prime Minister and Cambodian officials, both in public institutions and private businesses, for the welcome extended to French representatives — teachers, researchers, businesses, soldiers, archaeologists and artists.

“Distant Cambodia and distant France are in fact much closer than geography might suggest,” he summed up, spinning the metaphor of “an old couple” between the two nations, weathered by the vicissitudes of history but never separated.

A Regional Context Marked by Tension

The ambassador did not shy away from the difficulties of the moment. He referred to the situation along Cambodia's border, as well as the fight against criminal organisations judged potentially destabilising for the region. A reminder that the Franco-Cambodian relationship is also being built in an uncertain international context, with France, in his words, facing its own difficulties.

For Olivier Richard, this climate does not weaken the bond between the two countries but should, on the contrary, strengthen it. He called for the milestones ahead to be an opportunity to renew the bilateral relationship for thirty more years.

A Date Set for 7 November

The ambassador gave this ambition a precise horizon, inviting the audience to look ahead to 7 November, the date on which a high-level visit from the French side is expected to allow the two countries, in his words, to “renew the commitment for 30 years and more.” A way of turning the year's major milestones — the Francophonie Summit and the presidential visit — into a concrete, dated step for the future of the bilateral relationship.

Closing Toasts

Before concluding, Olivier Richard offered his encouragement to the French national football team, then extended his wishes of health and longevity to the Cambodian royal family. He closed his address with a triple toast to the health of Cambodia, of France, and of the friendship uniting the two nations, to applause from the audience gathered at the French Embassy in Phnom Penh.