Cambodia inaugurates billion-dollar airport funded by China

Prime Minister Hun Manet cuts the ribbon to inaugurate Siem Reap airport on November 16 (Photo: AP).

Mr. Hun Manet praised Siem Reap International Airport as "modern" during the ribbon-cutting ceremony on November 16. The ceremony was attended by more than 1,000 people, according to Xinhua .

It is Cambodia's first aviation facility developed under Beijing's global Belt and Road investment project and the $1.1 billion hub will boost tourism , he said.

"This is another historic event for Cambodia's aviation industry," Prime Minister Hun Manet said, stressing that "our mission is to make this airport operate effectively, so that it can improve people's living standards and boost the Cambodian economy ."

Siem Reap Airport, covering 700 hectares, has been put into commercial operation since October (Photo: AP).

Wang Yubo, Governor of China's Yunnan Province, was also present at the airport's inauguration ceremony.

Cambodian officials see the airport as a tangible result of increasingly close diplomatic ties between Beijing and Phnom Penh.

Siem Reap International Airport has a 3,600m runway and is located about 40km from the famous Angkor temple park, the country's main tourist destination. It began commercial operations in October and is expected to handle up to 12 million passengers a year by 2040.

Aerial view of Siem Reap International Airport (Photo: Phnom Penh Post).

The airport will be transferred to Cambodia in 2073 after 50 years of operation under the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) program between the two countries.

Another major airport is also under construction outside the capital Phnom Penh, costing $1.5 billion and scheduled to open in 2025.

Tourism is a major contributor to Cambodia's economy, with the country expecting 3.7 million foreign tourists in 2023.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-gioi/campuchia-khanh-thanh-san-bay-ty-usd-do-trung-quoc-rot-von-20231116214051269.htm