Cambodia and China are likely to sign concessional loans for a number of infrastructure projects, including the expressway connecting Phnom Penh and Bavet city in Svay Rieng province, in November this year.
The concessional loan for the Phnom Penh-Bavet expressway will be signed during an official visit of Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang to Cambodia, said Sun Chanthol, Minister of Public Works and Transport.
Concessional investment agreement on the project is being finalised, he said in a press conference at the Government Spokesman’s Unit yesterday.
“The ministry is working tirelessly to reach completion of the concessional investment project, before the official visit of the Chinese prime minister to Cambodia to attend the ASEAN Summit in November and the agreement would be signed,” Chanthol said.
The Inter-Ministerial Commission and China Bridge and Road Corporation (CRBC) on October 24, 2022, agreed on a framework agreement to build the Phnom Penh-Bavet Expressway.
The ministry and the CRBC, which built the first Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville expressway, have recently signed a memorandum of understanding on the project.
The ministry stated recently that the framework agreement on the Phnom Penh-Bavet expressway project is scheduled to be inked in November and the concession investment agreement before the end of this year.
Sun Chanthol said yesterday that the break ground ceremony of the second expressway construction would take place in June next year.
Stretching an estimated 135 km, the Phnom Penh-Bavet Expressway is designed to boost connectivity with Vietnam and spur economic ties between the two border provinces, with a special focus on export growth.
Starting from the capital’s third ring road, the expressway will pass through Kandal, Prey Veng and Svay Rieng provinces, ending at Bavet town on the Cambodian-Vietnamese border.
In September, the government formed an inter-ministerial commission to accelerate the implementation of the expressway infrastructure project connecting Phnom Penh to Bavet city.
Cambodia Logistics Association (CLA) president Sin Chanthy recently told Khmer Times that the expressway would improve efficiency in the transportation sector.
Currently, the Kingdom’s first $2-billion worth expressway, linking the capital and coastal seaport of Preah Sihanoukville, is put into trial for a period of one month free of charge.
This article was first published in Khmer Times. All contents and images are copyright to their respective owners and sources.
