The presence of ring roads, an expressway, a river-to-sea canal and a 4-class airport will help the southwestern part of the country to become the logistics hub of the country, said Prime Minister Hun Manet, yesterday.
“The government has selected the western part of the country for public investment such as in mega road infrastructure, massive waterway and airport, to promote the western pole,” the Prime Minister said during an inspection of the under-construction 4F-Class Techo International Airport, located in Kandal and Takeo provinces.
Once these mega infrastructures are in place, the western area would be home to a logistic hub, several industrial parks and special economic zones, the premier said, citing that local people in the area would economically benefit from these developments.
The Techo Funan Canal, one of the mega infrastructure projects, will be a part of the river-to-sea water transport sector and will create jobs and help lower transportation costs, he said.
The canal is 180 km long from Prek Takeo in the Mekong River, through the Prek Ta Ek of the Bassac River, Prek Ta Hing of the Bassac River, in Koh Thom district, and it goes to the Kep province before passing through three other provinces such as Kandal, Takeo and Kampot, with a total population of 1.6 million people on both sides of the waterway.
The construction of the new waterway project is estimated to cost $1.7 billion and will take about four years to complete.
“Once the construction of the Funan Techo Canal project is completed and when it is put into operation, more benefits can be tapped from these areas, such as the many factories installed in these areas, besides lower logistics costs,” the Prime Minister said.
Some of the other mega infrastructure projects in the area are Ring Road Number 3 and Ring Road Number 4, $ 1,500 million worth 4F-class Techo International Airport and other road systems.
The government has also given the green light to a Chinese firm — China Metro Group — to conduct the feasibility study for a light rail development project, connecting the Techo International Airport, with its first phase scheduled to be completed by mid-2025, to Phnom Penh centre.
Regarding the logistics development, the Prime Minister met a number of US logistics firms, inviting them to consider developing Cambodia’s western area as a logistics hub.
“Recently, I met one of the big US logistics firms. I asked that firm to check its possibility of taking advantage of the upcoming new airport for the logistics hub because we have good road infrastructure support,” the Prime Minister said. khmertimeskh
