Cambodia Will Not Borrow US$4bn to Build Phnom Penh-Poipet High-Speed Railway

• Sommana Yan
• 1 March 2023
• Local News
• 2143 Views

Cambodia will refrain from borrowing foreign loans to finance the Phnom Penh-Poipet high-speed railway project, estimated to cost around US$4 billion. Instead, the country seeks private investors to participate in a BOT (Build, Operate, Transfer) partnership, as HE Senior Minister Sun Chanthol, Minister of Public Works and Transport, announced on 28 February 2023.

The railway projects approved by the Prime Minister of Cambodia, Samdech Hun Sen, and supported by the Chinese Prime Minister and President Xi Jinping, aim to connect Cambodia to China via Thailand and Laos. President Jinping has recently pledged to support the initial stage of Cambodia’s railway project by granting RMB300 million to the country. (Read more)

“The Phnom Penh-Poipet Expressway is currently under study, and we are seeking private investors to upgrade the railway construction to connect Cambodia to Thailand and Thailand to Laos and Laos to China,” stated Senior Minister Sun Chantol.

“The Royal Government of Cambodia does not intend to borrow US$4 billion from foreign countries to build the high-speed railway from Phnom Penh to Poipet, but to find a private partner to build under a BOT cooperation,” he added.

According to officials at the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, Cambodia’s public debt is below 40% of the GDP, indicating no financial risk. The Phnom Penh-Poipet high-speed railway will stretch from the capital city of Phnom Penh to Poipet, a town on the border of Thailand, covering a distance of 382 kilometres under an estimated budget of US$4 billion. (Read more)

• Road and Infrastructure