Cambodia to start construction of expressway to Vietnam

Phnom Penh - Cambodia is scheduled to start the construction of the Phnom Penh-Bavet Expressway close to Vietnam’s Moc Bai international border gate in June 2023, said Sun Chanthol, Minister of Public Works and Transport of Cambodia.

Speaking at an inauguration ceremony of a traffic project in Phnom Penh on April 21, the minister revealed that Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen is expected to attend the groundbreaking ceremony.

The 1.6 billion USD expressway, the second of its kind in Cambodia, will have a total length of 138km and bridge across the Mekong River.

Chanthol revealed that Vietnam will also kick-start the construction of the Ho Chi Minh City-Moc Bai expressway to connect with the Phnom Penh-Bavet expressway.

He expected that the two projects will be completed by the end of 2026 or early 2027 at the latest.

In 2022, Cambodia put into use its first expressway connecting the capital Phnom Penh and the port city of Preah Sihanouk. The 187km-long and four-lane route had an investment cost of 2 billion USD invested by a Chinese company in the form of build - operate - transfer (BOT) with an operating time of 50 years.

The Cambodian government on April 7 approved the construction of five power plants with a total capacity of 520 megawatts.

Cambodia's display of origami hearts was included in the Guinness Book of Records on April 11 as the world's largest show of origami hearts, breaking the previous record held by Britain, a Guinness World Records adjudicator announced.