1. Phnom Penh to expand radius by 100 kilometers to enlarge population to six million people by 2035
Phnom Penh will continue to be a central service hub in the region with a population of six million with an expanded radius of 100 km by 2035. This is according to the master plan for land use in Phnom Penh in 2035, which was announced by the Royal Government.
The expansion of Phnom Penh, which is similar to some of the major cities in Southeast Asia, such as Bangkok which has a population of 9 million, Ho Chi Minh City with a population of 7 million, Hanoi with 8 million, Singapore with 4 million and Kuala Lumpur with 4 million people.
However, this policy is not being developed to the detriment of the value of Phnom Penh as a service provider for the whole country. At the same time, the Royal Government has confirmed that the master plan for the use of Phnom Penh will be revised every five years as necessary for economic and social development.
With this expanding radius, Parts of Kandal, Kampong Speu, Prey Veng, Kampong Cham and Takeo provinces will be transformed into Phnom Penh. Kampong Speu is located to the west of Phnom Penh so it falls under prioritized action 3: Rule and regulations for urbanization – Develop plan to the expand the City to the Northern and Western areas.
2. Kampong Speu targeted province to develop Agri-Food Industrial Park
The government has identified three target provinces in which to develop Agri-Food Industrial Parks, with industry experts urging the elevation of the initiative to special economic zone (SEZ) equivalent status, so as to promote agricultural production in Cambodia.
The Coordinating Committee for the Study and Development of Agri-Food Industrial Parks in Cambodia held its third meeting on 28 April 2022, during which three provinces were selected for the establishment of the industrial zones. They are Battambang, Kampong Speu and Kampong Thom.
In attendance at the meeting were representatives from the Ministry of Economy and Finance, agriculture industry associations and private companies. They discussed key findings of value chain and mapping studies, as well as the regulatory challenges of developing such parks in a Cambodian context.
The Agri-Food Industrial Park is an initiative by the Supreme National Economic Council, the finance ministry and the Cambodia-Australia Agricultural Value Chain (CAVAC) programme to help expand export markets for Cambodian agricultural products.
3. These big projects make the price of land in Kampong Speu even higher
The real estate sector is becoming more attractive and could change the province’s image in terms of better infrastructure in the near future. Kampong Speu is attracting a lot of local and foreign investors, and the province also has a high population density and a large number of factory workers compared to some of Cambodia’s provinces.
Kampong Speu is a highland province located in the middle of the Cambodian economic pole, between Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville. It makes the Province so special is that Kampong Speu has great potential to attract many projects to invest and make the real estate sector more prosperous.
Tycoon PungKheav Se’s large-scale industrial park project on 500 hectares land is seen by real estate experts as becoming one of Cambodia’s main economic life bloods, potentially attracting more foreign investors to invest in the territory.
China’s UlTraspower Technology Co., Ltd. special economic zone investment project with an investment of 66 million USD has started to build infrastructure and buildings. It is located on an area of 67 hectares along National Road 44.
A project to build a new satellite city by Hong Kong investors, according to Kampong Speu provincial governor Vei Samnang at a press conference on July 20, 2020.
A 60 megawatts Solar Farm located on 200 hectares of land in Kampong Speu’sOudong district had been completed, supplying 60 MW to the national grid.
Asia’s largest $500 million natural garden project. An investment project for a natural tourism area with amusement parks, water parks, agricultural parks, tourist parks, children’s parks, zoos, resorts and hotels on an area of more than 200 hectares.
Major built roads are the economic artery in the Province. National Road 51 has OCIC’s 500-hectare industrial park as well as many other old and new projects. National Road 41 connected Kampong Speu to Kampot province with old and new factories and industrial parks along the Road including a 500-hectare auto racing. Another road is National Road 44 from the capital of Kampong Speu province to Oral Mountain has industrial development projects such as the special economic zone of a Chinese investment company on 66 hectares land, provincial stadium and many other garment and textile factories.
According to a report on the progress of Kampong Speu province, 188 investment projects were approved in 2019, with a total construction area of 700,000 square meters. These investment projects have a total investment capital of $ 210 million.
According to the report, among the subsidiaries, there are five major investment companies: 9,000 hectares for Great Field (Cambodia) International Limited, 8,500 hectares for Yellow Field (Cambodia) International Limited, and HLH Agriculture (Cambodia). Co Ltd covers 9,900 hectares, Kampong Speu Sugar covers 4,700 hectares and 99 Agricultural Development Co., Ltd. covers 1,400 hectares.
There are eight natural tourism development companies with a total area of more than 70 hectares. 29 investment projects issued by the Ministry, 29 projects issued by the provincial administration and 125 projects issued by the municipal administration.
4. Land use master plan of Kampong Speu 2035
The objective and strategy-oriented development goal of Kampong Speu urbanization aim to:
- Orient land usage and ensure the existing potential value of the Kampong Speu Province in sustainable, efficient and equitable ways, in order to support the socio-economic development, ensure food security, pulchritude and environmental quality.
- Orient the development with equality, equity and correspondence between Kampong Speu Province, municipalities, provinces of the country and other states’ cities.
- Ensure the promotion of Kampong Speu Province’s identity in order to integrate it into the region and compete with other cities in the region for the development of larger context, which offers the possibility on both technical and financial supports.
5. Strategic Location of Kampong Speu in Cambodia’s Transport Corridor
Kampong Speu is located in the main transport corridor between Phnom Penh, the country’s capital, and Sihanoukville, Cambodia’s only deep sea port.With a high-quality national road and expressway linking the two, Kampong Speu is perfectly placed to provide access to quality inputs and to export and domestic markets.
Kampong Speu capital is just 20 minutes from Phnom Penh, 1.5 hours from Sihanoukville and only 5.5 hours from Ho Chi Minh City. Phnom Penh’s airport is only a 10-15 minute drive from Kampong Speu town.
The province has excellent transport infrastructure. Kampong Speu is served by 5 high-quality national roads and one expressway in addition to the key National Road #4 that runs through its heart. National Road #4, National Road #5 and National Road #51 link Kampong Speu to both Vietnam and Thailand. Two bridges constructed across the Mekong River will improve travel times to Kampong Cham (by-passing Phnom Penh) and Vietnam. Kampong Speu therefore provides easy access to Phnom Penh, Sihanoukville, Thailand and Vietnam.
6. Kampong Speu’s Business Boom: Plans for 25 New Factories and 20,000 Jobs
Kampong Speu is gearing up for a business boom according to some recent reports but it’s one of many provinces seeing a push for investment. In first quarter 2023, 5 manufacturing factories were announced in the province set up to employ more than 5,000 workers.The provincial administration has revealed plans to set up 25 new factories and enterprises which is expected to generate more than 20,000 jobs in total – this follows a visit from Kampong Speu governor Vei Samnang to China’s Guangzhou province.
We have a young, energetic and hard-working labour force. As a result, an increasing number of light manufacturing businesses have established themselves within the province.