Cambodia has commenced construction on a new container terminal at Sihanoukville Autonomous Port scheduled to be completed by 2029.
The expansion aims to make the new terminal into a hub port that can allow larger ships to call at the country.
The port’s annual throughput is anticipated to increase from 700,000 TEU to 2.58 million TEU upon completion.
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Prime Minister Hun Sen was in attendance for the project’s ceremony, and stated that the port’s development will support the Kingdom’s economic growth.
The new terminal would be built in three phases, according to Cambodia’s Minister of Public Works and Transport, Sun Chanthol.
The first phase is scheduled to be completed by 2026 and slated to cost $275 million. This will cover the construction of a 350-metre-long and 14.5-metre-deep container terminal.
The expansion is expected to allow ships of up to 4,000 TEU to call at the terminal.
Chanthol also stated that the second and third phases will respectively commence in 2025 and 2026 and conclude in 2028 and 2029, and cost $698 million in total.
“The expansion project will allow large container ships to dock at the port and significantly reduce ocean freight costs for Cambodia,” the Prime Minister added.
“It will help attract investors and accelerate our economic development.”
The project’s commencement comes a year after the Cambodian Ministry of Public Works and Transport held a ceremony to mark the start of construction at the new International Multi-Purpose Logistics and Port Centre in the southwestern province of Kampot.
In August 2022, the Government of Japan agreed to provide a loan of $306 million to Cambodia for the expansion of a new container terminal at the Port of Sihanoukville.
