According to the annual report from the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction (MLMUPC), released in November 2024, Cambodia’s construction sector attracted nearly US $80 billion of investment capital over 24 years from 2000 to 2024
In this time there have been construction permits issued for 67,696 projects with a total floor area of 197,455,440 square metres.
Post-pandemic, the market has seen price corrections, but the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and in particular, the injections into major infrastructure projects in the Kingdom are creating new growth areas and opportunities for developers in the market.
With 2025 just around the corner (where has the year gone!) we look ahead at some of the major projects which could lead to renewed construction projects in Cambodia.
1 - Techo International Airport Set To Launch
Located 20-40 kilometres south of Phnom Penh in Kandal Province (it is amazing this close to the launch, the distance from the city varies depending on what source is used), the Techo International Airport will replace Phnom Penh International Airport as Cambodia’s central aviation hub when it's expected to be operational in the first half of 2025.
The international airport is being constructed on 2,600 hectares of land through a joint investment by the Cambodian government and the Overseas Cambodian Investment Corporation (OCIC) and when it was first announced it was going to be one of the largest airports in the world.
It will be classified as a Category 4F airport and set to launch in early 2025 for the first phase, the airport is built to handle 13 million passengers annually and aims to increase to 30 million in the second phase - the long-term capacity of 50 million passengers capacity annually is targeted for the last phase in 2050.
The multiple runways will be capable of accommodating the largest aircraft, and the main aim is for the airport to be a competitive regional hub which will attract more long-haul international carriers and, crucially for Phnom Penh, direct flights to untapped markets - which could include Europe, the US, and Australia.
We have highlighted some of the public concerns previously - notably the transport aspect to and from the airport, but the new facilities are due to have automated immigration gates, mobile apps for seamless check-ins, and smart luggage tracking to improve the travel experience for visitors.
By the end of November 2024, the facility is more than 90% complete, and US $1.3 billion has been spent so far.
The airport was designed by an internationally renowned firm and its passenger canopy resembles the jungles of Cambodia, the ceiling canopy of patterned steel is held up by columns resembling tree trucks, and greenery and water features will be incorporated into the interior, courtyard and parking lot.
- Cambodia signed Protocol 5 with the hopes it will make stopover rights between member states easier when it comes into force at the end of 2025
- Lagardère Travel Retail and its local partner HSC Group will also manage the duty-free concessions at the new international airport.
- The airport is set to be managed by Cambodia Airports, which is the local subsidiary of VINCI Airports after they signed an MoU with the State Secretariat of Civil Aviation.
By increasing direct flights to major cities worldwide, TIA will put Cambodia firmly on the global travel and business map as well.
From a real estate perspective, the area around Techo International Airport has rapidly become a hotbed for real estate investment and the main capital’s corridor to the south has already seen the impact of the development of residential, commercial and retail projects. You can read more about the impacts here.
2. Kampot International Tourism Port - Regional Tourism Boost
The Kampot International Tourism Port has been speculated to launch before the end of 2024 and it has now been confirmed that the launch of soft operations will begin on December 12, 2024, at the Kampot Sea Festival under a trial period that will last for 3 months until February 2025.
This comes after a prolonged delay to the port's launch of operations but in the first half of this year an operator was finally appointed - the actual construction of the port was completed in 2022.
The 4.5-hectare port is located in Tuek Chou district, 5 kilometres from Kampot city, and was built with a loan from the Asian Development Bank with figures in the media ranging from US $9-10 million. Reports from earlier in 2024 suggested that the facilities include a wharf 123 metres long and 11 metres wide - and features restaurants, technical buildings and other facilities.
The Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, and the Ministry of Tourism have highlighted opportunities in developing coastal tourism in Kampot and Kep provinces and connecting sea tourism in Cambodia with Phu Quoc as well as the chain of other islands within the region.
An online post says, “Kampot International Tourist Port, which will be a major international waterway for transporting tourists to the southern islands and connecting Kampot Province to the world, is meant to contribute to boosting domestic tourism and will also be an important international maritime gateway to facilitate the national communication system to attract national-international tourists.”
Reports suggest the port would open up routes from Kampot to Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam (estimated to be a 30-minute journey by boat) and other routes would include Kampot to Trat, Thailand (for a 3-hour journey) although ticketing prices and times are still to be confirmed.
3. The Kampot Logistics and Multi-Purpose Port - Increasing Trade
Kampot province is also constructing another larger international deep-sea port at an estimated cost of US $1.5 billion with the first phase of construction and operations launched in 2024.
The port is expected to be a major artery for Cambodia's maritime transport and offers a 600-hectare seafront in Bokor City, Prek Tnoat which is a district of Kampot province. The port is intended to have the capacity to accommodate large container ships.
The Kampot Logistics and Multi-Purpose Port was invested in by the Kampot-based Kampot Logistics and Port Company Limited and built by the Chinese state-owned China Harbour Engineering Co Ltd (CHEC), and when completed is due to include residential property, a business centre, container fields, special economic zones (SEZ), free trade zones, logistics centres including warehouses, customs, manufacturing plants, oil refineries, and fuel centres.
When complete, the Kampot multi-purpose port will have the capacity to handle about 300,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent unit) by 2025 and approximately 600,000 TEUs by 2030.
There are several other projects under development such as the Funan Techo Canal, several bridges and roads (including expressways).
There is of course the perennial hope that the railways will finally link up Cambodia to Thailand from a passenger point of view and allow for easier and greater connectivity to the region’s rail network - but this has been on the cards for some time and yet to materialise. The recent investment by the Royal Railway PLC into passenger and freight trains has given some renewed optimism this could finally happen, and perhaps in 2025.
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