Kampot Logistics and Port Company Limited (KLP) and China Harbour Engineering Company LTD (CHEC) signed a construction contract on May 5 for Kampot multi-purpose port in Kampot province after a year of soil and infrastructure foundation preparation.

The signing ceremony of the construction contract was held under the witness of H.E Sun Chanthol, Senior Minister, Minister of Public Works and Transport, and representatives of the firms.

According to a report from the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, the construction project is divided into three phases with a total investment of about US$1.5 billion.

Some US$200 million will be invested in the first phase of the project.

The ground-breaking ceremony for the international deep-sea port was held in May last year under presidency of Deputy Prime Minister H.E. Chea Sophara, Minister of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction.

The multi-purpose port will have the capacity to handle throughputs of 300,000 TEUs by 2025 and increase to 600,000 TEUs by 2030.

The project will include container grounds, special economic zones, free trade zones, logistics centre, warehouses of all kinds including customs warehouses, manufacturing and distribution plants, refineries and fuel centre, residential and tourist areas, and passenger terminals.

H.E. Sun Chanthol said the investment project to develop the Kampot Logistics and Multipurpose Centre will be another large and deep-sea port in Cambodia and an international modern port in the ASEAN region.

The project will complement the existing ports such as Sihanoukville Autonomous Port and Phnom Penh Autonomous Port and help promote the successful implementation of the master plan to develop Sihanoukville into a multi-purpose special economic zone in line with the policy of industrial development of Cambodia 2015-2025, he added.

Source: Agence Kampuchea Presse (AKP)