China-funded road, bridge begin construction in Cambodia [-Welcome to the road and bridge to be paid for by your children!!!]

2012-05-05
Xinhua

STUNG TRENG, Cambodia - Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Saturday broke ground for the construction of the China-funded national road No 214 and the Cambodia-China Friendship Mekong-Stung Treng Bridge in the northern part of Cambodia.

The 144-kilometer road and a 1,731-meter bridge have been building under the soft loan of $116 million from the government of China, aiming at boosting the economic development in Cambodia's border provinces.

The road stretches from Stung Treng province to Preah Vihear province. The Shanghai Construction (Group) General Company undertakes the construction, which is expected to complete in 45 months.

Speaking at the ground-breaking ceremony, Hun Sen said that the road and bridge are very important to develop and link border provinces, adding that they are in the northern corridor which connects Cambodia to Vietnam and Laos.

A threat to Kingdom’s FDI

Friday, 14 October 2011 12:02
May Kunmakara
The Phnom Penh Post

Tokyo - Cambodia needs more than an estimated US$13 billion in infrastructure works by 2020 if the country intends to continue attracting foreign investment, a joint survey by some of the world’s top financial institution indicated on Wednesday.

During a conference held by the Japan International Cooperation Agency and the International Monetary Fund, experts from the two institutions urged Asia’s 16 low-income countries – which need some $358 billion in infrastructure projects by 2020 – to adopt public-private partnerships as a source of infrastructure investment and bank stability. Investment in the Kingdom’s roads, bridges and power facilities will create prime conditions for continued high-level foreign direct investment, experts said. The survey – which drew from JICA, IMF, Asian Development Bank and World Bank data – called for $1.2 billion in infrastructure spending per year in Cambodia, with about half going to new projects and the other half to maintenance.

ADB launches $613m aid plan for Cambodia

Jul 7, 2011
AFP

PHNOM PENH - THE Asian Development Bank (ADB) said on Thursday it will invest around US$500 million (S$613 million) in Cambodia over the next three years to reduce poverty, mainly through infrastructure and agriculture projects.

The soft loan forms part of a new 'country partnership strategy' for 2011 to 2013 between the government and the bank, said Peter Brimble, senior country economist for ADB in Cambodia.

Under the new plan, the ADB aims 'to reach out to Cambodia's poor' with a focus on agribusiness enterprises and rural-to-urban transport links, Mr Brimble told reporters at a press conference in the capital Phnom Penh.

Risks, Rewards as Economic Corridor Develops

Pich Samnang, VOA Khmer
Kampong Thom, Cambodia Tuesday, 29 March 2011

“The people here want a good road because it can bring in more tourists.”

Cambodia is building up its rural infrastructure in an effort to link itself to its neighbors, under an “economic corridor” project aided by the Asian Development Bank.

Proponents of the southern economic corridor, part of the Greater Mekong Subregion project, say it will bring benefits to villagers like those in Kampong Thom district’s Sambo Prey Kuk temple, in Prasat Sambo district.

Here, a bumpy dirty road connecting the temple to the main provincial town was recently improved.

“When the road was rough, not many people came,” said Kong Sophy, who owns a restaurant near the ancient temple, where buses of tourists now visit. “But now that the road is good, more visitors are coming. So I do well in sales.”

Cambodia starts to build Chinese-funded road in northwest

March 22, 2011
Xinhua

Cambodia on Monday broke ground for the construction of a China-funded 176-kilometer- road in the Northwestern part in order to facilitate travelling and trucking agricultural products to markets.

The ground-breaking ceremony for the road No. 57B was held Monday in Battambang province about 350 kilometers northwest of capital Phnom Penh.

The ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Hun Sen and Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Pan Guangxue, and top government officials, diplomatic corps, locals and students.

The road will facilitate travelling among former-battlefield provinces of Battambang, Banteay Meanchey and Pailin, the premier said during the ceremony.

Economic Corridor Spells Benefits, and Pitfalls

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1lYLUTm7So&feature=channel_video_title

Building Projects Worth US$428 Million Identified In Laos, Cambodia [by Malaysia]

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 9 (Bernama) -- A recent business delegation of local construction companies to Cambodia and Laos identified US$428 million of building and infrastructure projects in both the countries, a statement from Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE) said on Thursday.

It said the Specialised Marketing Mission, which was in Phnom Penh and Vientiane from November 28 to December 2, focused on construction and related services.

The mission was led by MATRADE, in collaboration with the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) and the Master Builders Association of Malaysia.

"Infrastructure, hydropower and construction projects were identified to be among the most promising business opportunities in both countries," said MATRADE's Chief Executive Officer Datuk Noharuddin Nordin.

He said both the Cambodian and Laotian Government were keen to work with foreign and local companies to develop their countries' infrastructure needs through Public Private Partnership programmes.

Citing the example of the US$2 billion Greater Mekong Subregion projects in Cambodia and the US$5.2 billion hydro power sector plan in Laos over the next five years, he said both countries were projecting positive economic growth and vibrant outlook for their development plans.

In Special Economic Zones, a Long Way To Go

Gate of Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone (Photo: Xinhua)

By Ros Sothea, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
25 March 2010

Cambodia has slowly developed a number of special economic zones, but poor infrastructure, insufficient telecommunications, and complicated customs are hampering their full potential, according to a senior government official.

The zones, first created in 2005, are designed to cluster investment in factories for garments, electronics and foods, all for export. Investors are offered tax incentives and one-stop service by zone administration in exchange for setting up production in the zones.

Cambodia has laid out at least 19 of these zones, mostly along the borders with Thailand and Vietnam and along the coast. But only five of them are in operation, and the zones lack road, water, electricity and skilled labor, Sok Chenda, secretary-general of the Council for the Development of Cambodia, told an economic outlook conference last week.

“One can’t imagine the success of the SEZs if you don’t have better processing, including infrastructure, transportation, labor skill, administrative procedures at the border,” he told the conference.

The zones need attention in “all costs—electricity costs, shipping costs and telecommunications costs,” he said.

A special economic zone can be established by the state, private enterprises and through joint ventures, on at least 50 hectares of land.

Cambodia has seven such zones in Preah Sihanouk province, five in Svay Rieng, three in Koh Kong and one each in Banteay Meanchey, Kampong Cham, Kampot, Kandal, Phnom Penh and Takeo. Seven more are under construction, and plans for nine others have no activity at all.

Developers are local businessmen and foreign investors from China, Taiwan, Malaysia and Japan.

Sok Chenda said the zones have been unable to attract investors because developers have not paid attention to their critical infrastructure needs.

The CDC was implementing a special economic zone law that would designate the zones as separate customs territories, outside national territory.

Sales from outside Cambodia to investors in these zones would be conditionally relieved from import duties and taxes, based on the principle that goods manufactured or produced in them are meant for export only.

Hong Choun Narun, secretary-general of the Economic Ministry, said all 21 zones will be active over the next five years, boosting exports, creating jobs and strengthening national economic growth.

Some developers, like Norng Soyeth, director of a state-owned zone in Preah Sihanouk, anticipate robust operations. His zone has put $100 million into infrastructure, he said.

“As soon as we begin operation [in 2011], our place will be full of 30 factories, invested in by Japanese and Korean investors, because we are the best location inside the sea area,” he said. “That will reduce transportation costs.”

Other zone representatives are less confident, and many were unclear on when operations would begin.

“We planned to open our zone in 2011 or 2012, but everything was stuck and investors asked for a delay due to the financial crisis,” said Mong Reththy, president of the Oknha Mong zone in Preah Sihanouk. “Now we are waiting for a good economy to come so that we can start our business.”

The road to Thailand from Vietnam is getting shorter and shorter

Vietnam to build coastal road ink to Cambodia, Thailand

Monday, February 22, 2010
Thanh Nien News (Hanoi)

Construction will begin next month on a 220-km long coastal road in the Mekong Delta as part of an international highway linking the country with Cambodia and Thailand, according to the project’s management board.

Running through the provinces of Kien Giang and Ca Mau, the US$440 million road will be built in cooperation with the governments of South Korea and Australia, as well as the Asian Development Bank.

Once it is completed, the road will be part of a nearly 1,000 kilometer link known as the Thailand-Cambodia-Vietnam Southern Coastal Road Corridor, starting at Bangkok and ending at Ca Mau Province’s Nam Can District.

The road would create more opportunities for Kien Giang and Ca Mau to develop their economies and promote tourism, according to Duong Tien Dung, vice chairman of the Ca Mau’s People’s Committee.

ADB experts, meanwhile, said that as the road mainly ran through the three countries’ poor provinces, it would provide greater access to basic social services for local people and encourage development of local economies.

Cambodia's 1st overpass

May 27, 2009
AFP

PHNOM PENH - CAMBODIA broke ground at its capital's busiest intersection on Wednesday for what will be the country's first road overpass.

Prime Minister Hun Sen announced the start of the project, intended to reduce Phnom Penh's increasing traffic problems, at a ceremony opening another new bridge at the intersection.

'It is will be the first overpass bridge of Cambodia,' he said at the ceremony.

Officials said construction of the 308-metre overpass would cost more than US$6 million (S$8.7 million) and would be finished within one year.

The premier said Phnom Penh had changed from 'ghost city, a city that has no people, and a shocked city, into a vivid city.'

All residents of Phnom Penh were forced into the countryside during the 1975 to 1979 Khmer Rouge regime, as the hardline communists enslaved the nation on collective farms.

During Wednesday's ceremony, Mr Hun Sen also called on the people to respect traffic laws, saying that doing so meant they 'respect their own lives.'

Traffic fatalities have more than doubled in Cambodia over the past five years, becoming the second-biggest killer behind HIV/AIDS.

Better roads and more vehicles have contributed heavily to this toll, but bad driving is the main cause behind most accidents, police say.

Cambodia has finally begun to emerge from decades of civil conflict, but has been hit with gridlock as well as a building boom that has begun to change radically the face of its once-sleepy capital.

ADB to provide Cambodia 31.7 mln usd for financial system, infrastructure

12.06.07

MUMBAI (Thomson Financial) - The Asian Development Bank said it is providing a 10 mln usd loan and a 1.7 mln usd grant to assist Cambodia in the development of a sound, efficient and market-oriented financial system as part of efforts to sustain economic growth and eradicate poverty.

The ADB said the programme will support the Cambodian governments continued efforts to strengthen the financial sector by promoting legal and regulatory reforms, capacity building, improved disclosure standards and financial transparency, and the establishment of key financial infrastructure.

In a separate release, ADB said it is providing 20 mln usd to develop and upgrade infrastructure and improve livelihood opportunities in Tonle Sap, the most impoverished region in Cambodia.

The Tonle Sap Lowlands Rural Development project will be funded by a 10.1 mln usd loan and 9.9 mln usd grant from the ADB while Cambodia will provide 3 mln usd with the project beneficiaries contributing 1 mln usd to complete funding for the project, the bank said.

The bank said the project will improve rural infrastructure to move products of the region to market, distribute agricultural inputs and improve farm yields by providing new irrigation facilities and improving existing ones.

Chinese banks urged to invest in Southeast Asia

Chinese banks must invest in South-East Asia, official says

Wed, 31 Oct 2007
DPA

Beijing - A top Chinese banking official on Wednesday urged the nation's banks to invest in South-East Asia, saying it was a "strategic necessity." "It is a strategic necessity for us Chinese banks to gear up and grow ourselves into international institutions, because we have to be part of the global system," the official Xinhua news agency quoted Wang Yongli, vice president of the state-run Bank of China, as saying.

"The ASEAN (Association of South-East Asian Nations) market is of special significance in the process," Wang said in a speech at a China-ASEAN business conference in the southern city of Nanning.

He said Chinese banks could enter ASEAN markets by providing financial services to support infrastructure construction.

The Bank of China is the only Chinese bank operating in Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore, Wang said.

But ASEAN-based banks have 36 branches in China, he said.

Most other Chinese banks had not yet devised detailed plans for exploring ASEAN markets, Wang said.

China is opening its banking sector to international competition under the World Trade Organisation rules framework, but most ASEAN nations are behind China in opening to foreign banks, he said.

The agency quoted commerce ministry spokesman Yao Shenhong as saying China and ASEAN hoped to conclude agreements next year to allow Chinese banks easier access to ASEAN markets.

The two sides are committed to opening up their banking sectors under the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area agreement on trade in services, signed in January.

The Bank of China is one of China's four largest banks, all of which have undergone gradual reform in recent years as the ruling Communist Party seeks to reduce the dependency of state industry on non-commercial lending.

ASEAN includes Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar.

Hun Sen: "Cambodia is advancing to a stage in which its natural resources will be used to develop its economy" .... Is there any resources left?

Japanese firm plans to invest in natural resources, telecommunications, infrastructure in Cambodia

PHNOM PENH, Oct 18, 2007 (Xinhua) - The president of Japanese Marubeni corporation has announced that it plans to invest in natural resources, telecommunications and infrastructure in Cambodia, local media said on Thursday.

The firm's president Nobuo Katsumata announced the plan here on Wednesday during a meeting with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen at his house in Kandal province's Ta Khmao district, the premier's advisor Eang Sophallet told Cambodian-language newspaper the Koh Santepheap.

Katsumata said his firm will enlarge its existing operations from imports and exports to natural resources, physical infrastructure, transportation, and telecommunication sectors.

The Japanese firm launched business operations in Cambodia in 1955, withdrew from the country in 1975 due to political instability, and restarted its involvement in 1992.

Hun Sen expressed welcome towards the Japanese firm's business plan, saying Cambodia is pushing its economic growth with the use of the natural resources available.

"Cambodia is advancing to a stage in which its natural resources will be used to develop its economy," Hun Sen said.

He also underlined that the firm will be able to assess the business opportunities as it has started its operation in Cambodia for 15 years.

Japan has been Cambodia's largest donor country for years and started to enhance its investment in the kingdom this year after both sides signed their investment agreement to guarantee protection and security for Japanese investors in Cambodia.