Cambodia hails BRI's role in boosting regional development

KANDAL, Cambodia — Cambodia's Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said on Wednesday that China's Belt and Road Initiative has played a crucial role in boosting socioeconomic development of Cambodia and other member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations over the past 10 years.

"Cambodia is one of the countries that has benefited from China's Belt and Road Initiative," Hun Sen said in a speech during the groundbreaking ceremony for Phnom Penh-Bavet Expressway, the kingdom's second Chinese-invested expressway linking its capital to its eastern border with Vietnam.

Cambodia's first expressway, Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway, which has been put into operation since October, was also constructed by a Chinese company. It has been playing a crucial role in boosting local economic growth and tourism development, Hun Sen said.

Under the BRI cooperation framework, a number of Chinese-invested megaprojects have been carried out in Cambodia, including the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone, hydropower plants and Siem Reap-Angkor International Airport, he said.

The BRI has also benefited other ASEAN member states and paves the way for world peace and development, Hun Sen said, adding the initiative has neither created enmity toward any countries nor blocked the development of other countries.

Wang Wentian, Chinese ambassador to Cambodia, said at the ceremony: "The BRI has helped more and more countries accelerate their economic development. This clearly shows that this initiative has provided a broad path to boost common development of all countries."

Neak Chandarith, director of the Cambodia 21st Century Maritime Silk Road Research Center, said BRI projects will continue to help Cambodia and other countries speed up their economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Joseph Matthews, a senior professor at the BELTEI International University in Phnom Penh, said the BRI has complemented the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity, and the initiative has provided great benefits to Cambodia, ASEAN and the rest of the world.

The China-Laos Railway project, which links Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan province, to the Lao capital Vientiane, is a great boon not only for the two countries, but also for other ASEAN member states, he said.

Xinhua - Agencies