Month: May 2018

Property developer Hongkong Land yesterday officially launched its flagship development in the Kingdom, Exchange Square, a mixed-use building in the heart of Phnom Penh.

With 26 floors and towering more than 117 metres above the ground, this new commercial building, shopping mall, and office tower will be home to the local offices of international organisations like the World Bank and Unicef.

Robert Wong, CEO of Hongkong Land, said during the grand opening yesterday that the new development seeks to capitalise on the buoyant local economy and booming business activity.

“Hong Kong Land has a number of successful mixed-use developments in major cities across Asia,” he said. “Phnom Penh, being an emerging business and economic hub in the region, is one of the major cities where we hope to expand our presence. Our investment in Exchange Square is proof of our commitment and confidence in Phnom Penh’s real estate market.”

“Exchange Square is well poised to meet the needs of both commercial and retail businesses looking to gain a firm foothold in the region.

“We believe this world-class property will bring a new level of quality in construction, property management and client services to the market, and will make a game-changing contribution to the dynamic transformation of Phnom Penh,” he added.

Pen Sophal, Secretary of State of the Ministry of Land Management, said the presence of projects like Exchange Square in the city is indication that investors have trust in the local economy and that the government has been implementing the right policies.

“The government considers the private sector as a partner and seeks to promote growth in the real estate market. This new development will serve as a catalyst for growth in the property sector.

“Exchange Square does not only represent a feat in engineering and architecture. The project also embodies values like innovation, responsibility, safety, cultural identity, environmental protection and beauty.

According to data from the ministry, the total value of approved construction projects in Cambodia rose by nearly 22 percent in 2017, reaching $6.8 billion.

The Japanese government is planning a shipment of 140 medium-sized, brand-new city buses that will be given to the Kingdom as donation.

The first shipment, consisting of 80 buses, will arrive in Phnom Penh next month, with the remaining vehicles sent to the Kingdom over the next two years, according to City Hall.

The initiative is a cooperation between Japan, Thailand-based CherdChai Corporation and Japanese automaker Isuzu.

“As soon as we receive the buses in June, they will go online,” said City Hall spokesman Met Measpheakdey, adding that they are now searching for drivers.

He said the donation will reduce traffic congestion in the capital and help those with the lowest incomes.

“Some think that more buses will just aggravate the situation with traffic jams in the city, but that’s not the case,” he said. “In actuality, these buses will transport up to 50 people that could otherwise drive a moto or a car.”

“They are very cheap to use, only 1,500 riel a ticket, which is good news for the poor. For students and for people with physical disabilities, it will be a free service,” he said.

Phnom Penh already has 150 buses running on ten different lines.

Last year, City Hall received a similar donation from China, who sent 100 buses. That same year, Prime Minister Hun Sen said that in 2018 and 2019 riding a bus in the city will be free for factory workers.

KHMER TIMES

ANZ Group will sell its stake in ANZ Royal Bank to Japan-based JTrust, who will acquire 55 percent of shares in the Cambodian joint venture.

The decision to sell its investment in the Cambodian bank follows ANZ Group’s desire to exit minority investments and partnerships to focus on building its institutional presence in Asia.

“We remain committed to our institutional presence in Asia. Our regional network is an important differentiator for ANZ and key to our ambition to be the best bank to support companies with trade and capital flows throughout the region,” Farhan Faruqui, an ANZ Group executive, said.

“This joint venture has been beneficial to both ANZ and Royal Group over the past 13 years, with ANZ Royal now a strong and successful bank,” he said, adding that the bank views the business environment in Cambodia as “attractive” and recognises it as an important growth economy in Asean.

Royal Group, who owns 45 percent of ANZ Royal, issued a statement in which he praised the bank’s performance under the leadership of ANZ and welcomed its new partner.

“Cambodia’s economy will continue its impressive growth and JTrust along with Royal Group will be actively involved in assisting this growth with the bank’s existing product portfolio as well as a range of new products,” Royal Group, who is owned by local businessman Kith Meng, said.

Work on the expansion of National Road 3, connecting Phnom Penh to the coast, began yesterday.

The project tackles the renovation and expansion of the section between Chom Chao commune in Phnom Penh and Kampot city and is being financed by a $200 million concessional loan from the Chinese government.

The project is expected to take two years to complete.

“National road number 3 will become one of the most important roads in Cambodia, especially for tourists and for the transport of goods,” said Prime Minister Hun Sen during the groundbreaking ceremony yesterday.

“The expansion and renovation of the road will not only boost the tourism sector. It will also facilitate transportation to the deep-sea port in Sihanoukville and make it easier to bring salt from Kampot to Phnom Penh,” the premier said.

KHMER TIMES

Phnom Penh Governor Khoung Sreng on Wednesday discussed the construction of two overpass projects, one at the Choam Chao roundabout near the airport and another at the Kbal Thnal intersection near Monivong Bridge.

The governor held a meeting of City Hall officials to go over plans for overpasses at the two junctions that frequently face traffic jams. Sreng asked officials to find a way to ensure that the project can be green lighted at the earliest.

“[I] urge the meeting to have an articulate solutions for the areas so that the construction can start soon and it could relieve [traffic] congestion at Kbal Thnal and Choam Chao roundabouts in the near future,” he said, according to a post on Facebook.

A plan for the overpass at Choam Chao, a site with frequent traffic congestion, shows an elaborate crisscrossing of streets connecting National Roads 3 and 4 to Russian and Veng Sreng Boulevards.

The capital has seen an increase in public infrastructure projects, mostly focused on transportation. An expanding fleet of buses, a new water taxi and an airport rail link have all sought to ease growing congestion in recent months.

Train service from the provincial capitals of Battambang and Banteay Meanchey provinces opened on Sunday, an expansion made possible by the retrofitting of previously existing tracks that will also limit the speed at which trains can run.

The 65-kilometre train ride from Serey Saophoan to Battambang will be free for passengers until the end of July and will take about two and a half hours to complete, according to Transportation Minister Sun Chanthol, who oversaw the track’s inaguration on Sunday.

The new line follows on the heels of the opening of a 48-kilometre track between the border town of Poipet and Serey Saophoan on April 4.

Chanthol’s speech at the opening of the new track encouraged drivers to give priority to trains, and he noted that the train had already been involved in crashes with three vehicles in the last month.

“I would like to propose that people along the railway or people that travel across the rail tracks, please be highly cautious,” Chanthol said. “The train has no brake to [stop immediately] like a car.”

With Poipet and Battambang now connected by rail, the ministry plans to open a 107-kilometre stretch of track from Battambang to Pursat on May 29, before moving on to work on the 134-kilometre stretch of track from Pursat to Bat Doeng, in Kampong Speu’s Oudong district.

The total cost to rehabilitate the train track from Poipet to Bat Doeng was estimated at $76.6 million, with $13 million coming from the Asian Development Bank and the rest coming from government coffers, Chanthol said.

The remaining 32 kilometres from Bat Doeng to Phnom Penh was scheduled to be completed last, and passenger service from Phnom Penh to the Thai border at Poipet was set to be available by the end of the year, the minister said.

While a rail link between Phnom Penh and the Thai capital of Bangkok was also in the works, negotiations with Thailand were still ongoing and the minister did not provide a timeline for that service’s opening.

Additionally, the minister mentioned that new railway tracks – from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap, Siem Reap to Poipet, and Phnom Penh to Bavet on the Vietnam border – were also being studied by private companies.

“This is under a feasibility study and we have not approved it yet,” he said.

Royal Railways, part of Kith Meng’s Royal Group conglomerate, was granted a 30-year concession to restore and operate existing railways in 2009, but newly constructed railways would be open for other companies to build and operate, according to Chan Samleng, director of the Railway Department at the Ministry of Public Works and Transport.

The Phnom Penh Post