Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone to Become “shenzhen” of Cambodia

• Proeksa Meas
• 10 May 2018
• Construction Focus
• 9746 Views

After completing its initial phase of development, the Cambodia Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone (SSEZ) is planning to turn itself to be a fully-functional ecological model industrial zone by adding an additional 300 enterprises in the area. In doing so, the SSEZ aims to become the ‘Shenzhen’ of Cambodia in the future.

The upcoming 300 factories will help create at least 80,000 to 100,000 jobs for locals and will also help boost the economy of Sihanoukville as well as of the kingdom as whole.

This announcement was made in a meeting between the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and a high-level delegation from the Shenzhen Foundation for International Exchange and Cooperation (SFIEC) during their official visit to Cambodia on 9 May.

The official visit of the SFIEC delegation was organised to share experiences on the development of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and also to explore investment opportunities in education, trade, commerce, agro-industry and infrastructure in Cambodia.

The SSEZ is an economic and trade cooperation zone constructed by Chinese and Cambodian enterprises, and is a landmark project of the “One Belt, One Road” initiative which aims to create the ideal trading platform for investment in ASEAN and exporting to the world.

Located 3km from the Sihanoukville airport and 12km from the deep water seaport, the SSEZ comprises a total planning area of 11.13km². Since its establishment in 2012, the SSEZ has completed the initial phase of the development area of 5.28km² with a total number of 118 investors, 89 factories, and 21,000 workers.

“With the support of Shenzhen, we will improve our understanding of challenges and opportunities in developing SEZs, especially for Sihanoukville, and to support Cambodia’s Industry Development Policy (IDP); this will greatly enhance our cooperation with China,” said Mr. Nut Unvoannra, Deputy Secretary General of the Cambodia Investment Board, who chaired the meeting.

However, the meeting was yet to confirm when the second phase of development will start.