The Worldbridge i4.0 SME Cluster project has officially broken ground Friday. The cluster, located in Takhmao city of Kandal province opposite an affordable housing project and near the new Phnom Penh International Airport and Ring Road 3, is seen as an innovative and strategic solution for SMEs and industrial development in Cambodia.
Unlike special economic zones, industrial parks or traditional SME clusters, the i4.0 SME Cluster is an innovative solution which supports the government’s objectives under the Industrial Development Policy 2015-2025 and serves as a vehicle in which government policies supporting skills-based employment, SME development, agro-processing expansion and industrial diversification can be easily achieved.
Most importantly, it brings a new future for SMEs, entrepreneurs, the information communications technology (ICT) sector and manufacturing investment in the Kingdom by bringing them together into complete value chains.
Sear Rithy, chairman of the Worldbridge Group, said that i4.0 SME Cluster will be invited around $28 million to $30 million, excluding the price of the land. Rithy added the area of the SME cluster will take up six hectares of land. However, the company will expand if demand grows.
He said that the purpose of the establishing the Worldbridge i4.0 SME Cluster project is to promote and boost the competitive ability of the SME through the production, businesses, and services in one place which they can link to each other in the zone.
“The construction of the Worldbridge i4.0 SME Cluster project will take eight months, and is scheduled to be completed by end of 2021,” Rithy added.
He said that there are seven sections in the clusters. They include Service Centre (commercial centre, one window service centre, training, food court, medical centre, conference hall, and office space), Basic SME factory set (water supply, office space, showroom, logistics areas), Infrastructure (hybrid power supply, energy management system, building management system, treated water supply, industrial and domestic waste collection, waste water treatment plant, firefighting and emergency).
In addition, the cluster will be include logistics and services such as domestics transport services, import-export clearance service, on site custom services, cold storage packaging services, and value-added service). It also has the business amenities, worker amenities, and other supporting services, such as back house service (accounting, HR, marketing, and IT), input pre-processing, financial advisory, and loan services and others.
This article was first published in Khmer Times. All contents and images are copyright to their respective owners and sources.
