The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved an $18 million loan to build a ferry terminal in Kampot province in a bid to open the southern spot to more tourists, according to a statement released Tuesday.
ADB country director Eric Sidgwick said in the statement that the transport hub would create a bridge between Cambodia and its neighbors.
“The development of this passenger pier will support an increase in tourism in southern coastal areas and help establish a new gateway between Southern Cambodia, Viet Nam and other destinations in the Gulf of Thailand,” he said.
The loan will also go toward improving roads and wastewater management at tourist destinations in Kampot and seaside resorts in Kep province and on Koh Rong, an island being developed off the coast of Sihanoukville.
The project, planned for completion by the end of 2019, aims to strengthen the growing tourism sector outside Siem Reap.
“Inadequate transport infrastructure in secondary destinations, weak market linkages between the tourism industry and other sectors, and limited capacity to promote tourism have held back Cambodia’s ability to tap the sector’s full potential,” the statement says.
