According to a five-year master plan released by the government, Cambodia has spent an estimated $3 billion over the last ten years developing roads covering more than 3,000 kilometres across the country, in addition to expressway and railway projects that are now under construction.
According to Vasim Sorya, spokesman for the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, these accomplishments were made possible by Chinese assistance and loans.
“According to public works minister Sun Chanthol, we have built roads in Cambodia covering more than 3,000 kilometres, including 12 bridges, at a cost of an estimated $3 billion, with the help of our friend China ” he said.
According to Sorya, the latest road project will connect Phnom Penh to Bavet town in Svay Rieng province before continuing into Vietnam, whereas the proposed train will run from Phnom Pen to Ho Chi Minh City. The project’s research phase has already been completed.
Sorya said the ministry did not know how much the five-year rolling plan would cost in the end, but the Phnom Penh-Bavet Road project is expected to cost $2 billion.
On June 7, Chanthol told reporters that Cambodia has already presented China with a five-year rolling plan, which includes the Battambang-Siem Reap Road construction project, the Kampong Thom-Kampong Chhnang road construction project, and the Phnom Penh-Bavet expressway project, which continues through the Moc Bai border crossing into Vietnam.
He also stated that studies for Cambodia’s modern railway project and public transportation system have been completed, including feasibility studies for the construction of a metro, monorail, or automated guideway transit (AGT) system to relieve traffic jams in Phnom Penh.
Sun Chanthol expressed gratitude to China for its assistance, which enables Cambodia to build infrastructure that improves people’s lives and would help the country become a middle-income country by 2030 and a high-income country by 2050.
Source: The PhnomPenh Post
