Cambodian PM hails BRI benefits

KRATIE, Cambodia — Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said on Monday that the Belt and Road Initiative has provided a lot of tangible benefits to his country and other participating countries.

Speaking at a groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of a China-funded river bridge, Hun Sen said the BRI has injected vital impetus into Cambodia's socioeconomic development.

The bridge is part of Cambodia's National Road 60B that links Kratie with central Kampong Thom Province. "Cambodia and other countries in the region have benefited a lot from the BRI," he said.

Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Wang Wentian said this year marks the BRI's 10th anniversary, saying that China and Cambodia had achieved remarkable results in their pragmatic cooperation under the BRI's framework in the last 10 years.

He said through the initiative, China has supported a number of mega projects in the development of roads, bridges and power transmission lines, among others.

He pointed out that the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone, the flagship project of China-Cambodia cooperation under the BRI, has been making steady progress.

"A large number of enterprises have settled in the zone, which has created more than 30,000 jobs for locals and contributed to the socioeconomic development in Cambodia," Wang said.

Growth contributor

Neak Chandarith, director of the Cambodia 21st Century Maritime Silk Road Research Center, said the BRI projects will be a contributor to economic growth in Cambodia and in the region during the post-pandemic era.

"I believe that the BRI projects here will help Cambodia achieve its ambitious goal of becoming an upper-middle-income country by 2030 and a high-income country in 2050," he said.

"BRI projects such as airports, electric power plants, manufacturing bases and expressways are crucial for the integration of the Cambodian economy with other economies of the world."

Joseph Matthews, a senior professor at the BELTEI International University in Phnom Penh, said the BRI is a driving force to continue expanding cooperation among countries in the region and the world at large for the cause of peace, security, prosperity and sustainable development.

"It is becoming the new engine of global economic growth in the post-pandemic era," he said.

Besides Cambodia, other Southeast Asian nations such as Laos, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia have also greatly benefited from the BRI, Matthews said.

"The China-Laos Railway, which connects Kunming in China's Yunnan province with Lao capital Vientiane, is a boon not only for both countries, but also for other Southeast Asian nations," he said.

Kin Phea, director-general of the International Relations Institute of Cambodia, said the BRI has not only brought enormous advantages to all participating countries, but has also become a long-term strategy to promote connectivity and cooperation in all fields.

Xinhua