Officials broke ground on a $1.5 billion deep-sea port on Thursday in Kampot province, aiming to reduce shipping costs and better connect transport lines in the country.

The new Kampot Multi-Purpose Port is located in Kampot Boko city’s Prek Tnoat commune on a 600-hectare plot of land, said Sun Chanthol, Minister of Public Works and Transport. He added that the port is 15 meters deep and can cater to large container ships with a capacity of 100,000 tones.

He said the port will provide 10,000 jobs and help the local economy grow. The port is developed by Kampot Logistics and Port Co., Ltd

“Kampot Multi-Purpose Port will be another large and deep-sea port in Cambodia and an international standard modern port in the ASEAN region,” Chanthol said at the groundbreaking ceremony in Kampot.

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“Kampot Multi-Purpose Port will complement our ports, such as Sihanoukville Autonomous Port and Phnom Penh Autonomous Port, and promote the successful development of Sihanoukville into a multi-purpose model special economic zone,” he added.

Shanghai Construction Group and China Road and Bridge Corporation are among construction companies building the port.

The construction will be carried out in three stages. The first one, worth $200 million, will be able to handle goods in 2025.

He didn’t specify the second and third stages, but added construction should be complete within two years.

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The port will include warehouses, a special economic zone, oil refineries, ferries, and housing projects, Chanthol said. He added that the port will also be able to store liquid and hard goods in its warehouses, such as oil and gas.

The port will have a capacity of 300,000 TEU in 2025 and 600,00 TEU in 2030, the minister said.

It will also deliver goods between Phnom Penh via Tonle Bassac River to Kep, saving time and costs in the shipping industry, Chanthol said.

“If we can travel on the Tonle Bassac River to Kep, it saves time,” he said, adding that the distance from Kep to the new Kampot port is about 52 kilometers. “This will attract more foreign investment in our country and create jobs for our people, this is very important.”

Chea Sophara, Minister of Land Management, attended the ceremony on behalf of Prime Minister Hun Sen. He said the port will be kitted out with modern equipment that can facilitate transportation, small and large containers, and can distribute goods to other areas in the country.

“This will also help reduce costs [of shipping] and transportations on National Road 4 and railways. This is between Phnom Penh and Kampot,” Sophara said.