DPA
Phnom Penh - The number of containers passing through the river port in Phnom Penh rose 46 per cent in the first 10 months of the year over the same period last year, local media reported Monday.
Phnom Penh Autonomous Port deputy director Eang Veng Sun told the Cambodia Daily newspaper that the presence of the Cai Mep deepwater port in southern Vietnam, which opened last year, had helped boost trade.
Containers loaded at Cai Mep can sail directly to Europe and the United States, Cambodia's two key export markets. However, exports leaving via Cambodia's southern seaport of Sihanoukville must be reloaded in Singapore or Hong Kong.
Eang Veng Sun said 52,431 standard-sized containers had left through Phnom Penh this year, compared with nearly 36,000 in the same period of 2009.
Port director Hei Bavy said a new Chinese-funded facility located outside Phnom Penh and designed to boost capacity is on track for completion by mid-2012.
He said the 28-million-dollar terminal would be able to handle 300,000 standard-sized containers, nearly four times the capacity of Phnom Penh's port.
Cambodia's infrastructure has undergone significant rehabilitation in recent years. Last month, a 110-kilometre stretch of railway line opened after years of war and neglect forced the closure of the entire network.
The railway, which is to be used mainly for commercial traffic, was scheduled to be fully operational by 2015. When completed, it is to link Cambodia with Vietnam and Thailand, closing the last remaining gap in the rail link between Singapore and China.
