Gov’t to Spend US$2.3bn on Infrastructure Development; 100 bridges to be Built

• 23 November 2021
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Cambodia Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen has announced that Cambodia plans to spend over US$2.3 billion of the national budget to develop infrastructure nationwide and at least US$100 million will be used to build hundreds of bridges across small rivers and water streams.

PM Hun Sen made the remarks during the inauguration ceremony of the Cambodia-China Friendship Stueng Trang-Krouch Chmar Bridge and the groundbreaking ceremony NR71C on the morning of 23 November. (Read more)

“Apparently before the COVID-19 crisis, the government had saved a large amount of budget. Thus far, we have spent approximately US$1 billion on power plants in Phnom Penh, the 34-road project in Sihanoukville, and the 38-road project in Siem Reap,” said PM Hun Sen.

“Back then, we had almost US$3.5 billion left. We planned to spend two thirds of it on infrastructure development. I wanted to build one bridge every 2-3km on small rivers such as Prek Tnaot, Pursat River, Mongkul Borey River, Sangke River, and Stung Sen River, among others. If one bridge cost US$1 million, 100 would cost only US$100 million,” he added.

PM added that the rest of the budget was planned be used for roads and major bridges crossing large rivers such as the Mekong, Tonle Sap, and Tonle Bassac.

However, due to the COVID-19 crisis, Cambodia has spent US$2.3 billion. Thus, to build those projects, Cambodia must continue to ask for help from China and other partners, PM Hun Sen explained.

 

• Policy and Strategy
• Road and Infrastructure