Construction on Kampot International tourist port project behind schedule

• 11 May 2020
• Local News
• 5417 Views

Construction on the first tourist international port project in Kampot is currently significantly behind schedule with only 30% complete given that the whole facility was set to open in April 2020. The delay is another impact of COVID-19 with the construction company requesting a temporary postponement according to Mr. Soy Sinol, Chief Department of Tourism of Kampot during a press conference on “Progress and Continuing Direction of Kampot Provincial Administration” on 08 May 2020.

In response to media inquiries, Sinol made clear that the main reason to build the international port was that the government sees Kampot’s potential to link upstream tourist flows with neighboring Thailand, Vietnam, and marine tourism in other countries’.

The port is for tourists only, with capacity for 300 vessels to be easily docked, although large ships cannot dock in this port so no cargo ships can dock.

As for the capacity to accommodate people, according to a study by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), a donor on the project, the international tourist port can accommodate around 1,000 tourists a day when it launches.

In conjunction with this project, the Kampot Provincial Government has planned a five-year tourism development plan (2019-2023) for Kampot province to serve a total tourist growth of 2,500,000 by 2023, of which international tourists are expected to grow to 30,000.

Under the plan, the Kampot administration will continue to expand residential services in the province, by increasing the number of rooms from 5,000 to 6,000 to meet the needs of future visitors.

The Kampot tourist international port locates in Chhuk District of Kampot covers an area of 4 hectares and is being built by Cambodian engineering firm SBPH Engineering & Construction Co. Ltd. The budget for the construction is US$8.48 million using a concessional loan from the ADB as part of the Greater Mekong Sub-region Tourism Infrastructure for Inclusive Growth Project (GMS TIIG No.3194-CAM). (Read more)