Construction began this week on an expressway linking Cambodia’s capital to the Vietnamese border town of Bavet, with financial assistance from China as Beijing’s influence here continues to grow.
The Chinese state-owned China Road and Bridge Corp. will acquire operating rights for 50 years upon completion of the project, whose construction cost comes to around $1.37 billion.
“The new highway will bring great advantages to the Cambodian people,” Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Wednesday in a groundbreaking ceremony speech lasting more than an hour in Kandal province. He smiled at Wang Wentian, the Chinese ambassador to Cambodia, in a display of the warm relations between their countries.
