New Phnom Penh airport opens with fanfare as Cambodia touts regional, China ties

With an eye to transforming Cambodia into a Southeast Asian travel and cargo hub, a new US$2.3 billion airport – developed by a venture affiliated with one of the country’s wealthiest men – was opened at a grand ceremony near Phnom Penh, where officials and business leaders praised the project for enhancing regional connectivity and deepening links with Hong Kong and mainland China.

Techo International Airport (TIA), which has replaced the Cambodian capital’s previous facility, has been forecast by PwC to accommodate 5.3 million passengers in the remainder of the year.

The professional services firm has also projected full annual capacity to reach 10.1 million and 15 million passengers by 2030 and 2040, respectively, as the airport enters into new phases of development.

Its operator, Cambodia Airport Investment, is 90 per cent owned by Overseas Cambodian Investment Corporation (OCIC), a conglomerate founded by tycoon Pung Kheav Se. The remaining 10 per cent is owned by the Cambodian government’s State Secretariat of Civil Aviation.

Monday’s opening ceremony was attended by over 1,000 politicians, businessmen and other luminaries. In his address, Pung said the new airport is not a singular project, but rather one node in an overarching strategy to make Cambodia a vital activity centre in the region, adding he envisions the airport as part of a long-term economic corridor connecting the Southeast Asian country to regional supply chains and global air routes.

“The plan is to construct a new 10km (6.21 miles) waterway with a total investment of US$100 million, from Boeng Cheung Loung lake south of TIA … all the way to Kep City, Cambodia’s seaport,” Pung said. “This will provide TIA a competitive edge to be a transport hub by air, land and sea.”

Addressing the financing of the new airport, he said the investment was primarily funded internally through OCIC and also via the issuance of bonds to local banks and financial institutions.

South China Morning Post