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Cambodia: Japan loan boosts Sihanoukville port expansion
In a major boost for the expansion of a new container terminal at the Sihanoukville Port, Cambodia received a 41,388,000,000 yen ($306 million) loan from Japan.
At a function presided over by Prime Minister Hun Sen at the Peace Palace on Saturday, Prak Sokhonn, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and his Japanese counterpart Hayashi Yoshimasa exchanged notes and related documents on the extension of the loan.
In line with the commitment made by the prime ministers of both countries earlier this year, the new loan will help Cambodia expand and modernise its Sihanoukville Autonomous Port into a principal deep-sea port in the Kingdom and region.
Hem Vanndy, secretary of state at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, and Kamei Haruko, Chief Representative of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Cambodia office, signed the actual
loan agreement.
Before the signing ceremony, Yoshimasa paid a courtesy call on Mr Hun Sen and they lauded the good relationship between the countries.
The Prime Minister thanked the government and people of Japan for their assistance in the development of Cambodia.
Yoshimasa said he would continue to work together with his Cambodian counterpart Sokhonn to further boost Cambodia-Japan relations and cooperation, mainly in the fields of economy, investment, national defence, and other areas.
Last March, Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio visited Cambodia and the two prime ministers issued a joint statement outlining the direction of future cooperation. The leaders agreed to work together to make Sihanoukville a major port, located in the southwestern province of Preah Sihanouk, for Cambodia and the Mekong region.
The listed seaport, the sole international and commercial deep-sea port in Cambodia, made a gross revenue of $93.2 million in 2021, up 17.6 percent year-on-year, according to the Ministry of Public Works and Transport.
The port handled 6.9 million tonnes of containerized cargos last year, up six percent year-on-year, the ministry added.
Earlier this year, the Ministry of Public Works and Transport announced that it was developing and modernising new container ports through a study with JICA.
Currently, the port can handle ships with a depth of more than 9 m and the new expansion plans help it provide services to larger ships.
According to earlier reports, the container terminal port project is scheduled to start in late 2025, while the project’s phases 2 and 3 will commence in 2028 and 2029, respectively.
The first phase of the container terminal is 350 metres long and 14.5 metres in depth while the second phase is 350 metres long and 16.5 metres in depth. Both the projects are scheduled to be completed in 2028 while phase 3, which is 400 metres long and 17.5 metres in depth, is scheduled to be completed in 2029.
The new container terminals are being built to cater to the growing throughputs of containers and goods at the port.
Currently, the port has been handling containers and goods beyond its capacity. It now handles 750,000 TEUs of containers, while the port’s capacity is 700,000 TEUs of containers.
Once three container terminal projects are operational, the Sihanoukville Autonomous Port can handle the deadweight tonne containers.
Sihanoukville Autonomous Port recorded a net profit of $5.9 million for the fourth quarter in 2021 due to an increase in container throughput and foreign exchange gains.
PAS has also posted a 4.21 percent increase in revenue at more than $21 million in the fourth quarter, as against a revenue of $864,729 for the same quarter in 2020.
Source: https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501128516/japan-loan-boosts-sihanoukville-port-expansion/