Transports : Funan Techo canal to break ground in August, says PM

Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Thipadei Hun Manet said this morning that the Funan Techo Canal project will break ground in August this year.

Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Thipadei Hun Manet

"The project is a great national symbol and a historical achievement of Cambodia," he said at the inauguration ceremony of the achievements of the Buddhist Cultural Centre of Cambodia in Phnom Sruoch District, Kampong Speu Province.

Commenting on the project, Deputy Prime Minister and First Vice President of the Council for the Development of Cambodia H.E. Sun Chanthol said it had been thoroughly studied by a group of nearly 50 experts.

The Funan Techo Canal project has very little impact, while the economic analysis and evaluation show that it will bring great benefits in the areas of trade, tourism, urban planning and construction, etc, he stressed.

The canal will connect Prek Takeo on the Mekong River to the sea in Kep province, crossing four provinces: Kandal, Takeo, Kampot and Kep, with a total of 1.6 million people living on both sides of the waterway.

According to the project’s feasibility study, the US$1.7 billion Funan Techo Canal project is 180 kilometres long and 100 metres wide upstream and 80 metres wide downstream, with two shipping lanes. Construction would take about four years.

AKP