APD | China stands to contribute to development of Cambodia

By APD writer Kin Ratha

PENOM PENH, Mar.25 (APD) -- Chinese vice Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou on Friday reassured that Chinese investment into Cambodia is to contribute to the development of the country’s economy and poverty reduction. 

The comment from Mr.Kong Xuanyou was made at the construction groundbreaking ceremony of the Chinese-built expressway at Kampong Speu province’s Samrong Tong district. He said that China treats Cambodia as a brother and keep its stand to support the country’s development.  

“We do support the development of Cambodia and Cambodian people as a whole and we want to see the country reach its goal of becoming the lower-middle income by 2030 and higher income-country 2050,”he said. 

Prime Minister Hun Sen said that the country still needs more financial support to build infrastructure to support its economic growth. He said that China has been playing an important role for helping the country’s development especially in the country’s infrastructure construction. 

From 1994 to 2016, the total investment capital from China was about $14.7 billion in four sectors – the agriculture and agro-industry, the industrial sector, infrastructure and services and tourism.

The expressway will be built in four lanes and stretches over 190 km from Phnom Penh to Preah Sihanoukville province, shorter than the current road, which runs for 240 kilometers. The cost of construction is estimated at $1.9 billion. The agreement of expressway construction was reached in January 2018, which China Road and Bridge Corporation is granted to build.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)