‘Positive results’ for western PP logistics centre
‘Positive results’ for western PP logistics centre
A recently-completed early-stage feasibility analysis of a groundbreaking trade logistics centre west of Phnom Penh provided positive results, Ministry of Public Works and Transport senior official Chhieng Pich told The Post on Wednesday.
Pich, director-general of the ministry’s General Department of Logistics, said the study showed that Phnom Penh Logistics Complex would be economically viable and commercialising it would benefit the private and public sectors.
He said the ministry forwarded the results of the analysis to the Ministry of Economy and Finance and is awaiting approval.
“If the Ministry of Economy and Finance gives us the green light, we will conduct a comprehensive feasibility study in collaboration with the Asian Development Bank,” he said.
The Phnom Penh Logistics Complex will be located on 98ha in Dangkor district’s Samrong Krom commune, an area lying just west of Phnom Penh International Airport.
The location is strategically significant as it sits between Sihanoukville Autonomous Port and the Poipet rail line on the border with Thailand. It is also located near National Roads 3 and 4, as well as the Phnom Penh Special Economic Zone.
Cambodia’s weak logistics infrastructure has long impeded its trade sector, with a 2014 World Bank report showing the Kingdom’s export costs were 30 per cent higher than those of neighbouring countries.
In 2016, the Japan International Cooperation Agency estimated that Cambodia charges its exporters $540 per twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU), compared to $200 in Thailand and $250 in Vietnam.
TEU is an inexact unit of cargo capacity often used to describe the capacity of container ships.
Cambodia Freight Forwarders Association president Sin Chanthy expressed optimism that the creation of the Phnom Penh Logistics Complex will provide an additional option for private sector investors in logistics, trim production costs and sharpen the Kingdom’s competitive edge.
“We are awaiting the arrival of investors to give a further impetus to the project. Hopefully something will come up soon,” he said.
