The expansion of Vietnam’s Cai Mep port has been key in driving an increase in the total volume of cargo moving through Phnom Penh Autonomous Port in the first 10 months of the year, a port official said.
Eang Veng Sun, the Phnom Penh port’s deputy general director, said Thursday that between January and October the total volume of cargo at the port had risen 46 percent over the same period last year.
According to Mr Veng Sun, the number of 6-meter containers that passed through the port rose to 52,431 in the first 10 months of the year, up from 35,813 in 2009.
He said that the expansion of Vietnam’s Cai Mep port, located about 85 km south of Ho Chi Minh City, had provided an opportunity for PPAP to attract more business from companies wanting to transport goods efficiently through Vietnam.
“This [Cai Mep] port…has a direct line to Europe and the United States. So the port will attract more exporters from us,” Mr Veng Sun said.
As trade continues to pick up through Phnom Penh’s port, other officials said the ongoing construction of the PPAP’s facility in Kandal province’s Kien Svay district would help the facility handle the increased cargo levels.
Hei Bavy, PPAP general director, said the construction of the new 30-hectare, $28 million container terminal was about 25 percent complete.
“The capacity of this new port will be [more than] double that of the current PPAP,” Mr Bavy said, adding that the project was on track to be completed by mid-2012.
Mr Bavy said the new terminal would be able to receive more than 300,000 6-meter containers a year, up from the PPAP’s current capacity of 80,000.
The construction of the new container terminal is being financed by a 30-year Chinese loan and is located 30 km from Phnom Penh in Kien Svay district’s Banteay Dek commune, which has access to National Road 1.
Commune chief Phuon Kong said the construction of the terminal, which he believed was about 30 percent complete, was going well.
“The sand filling is nearly completed. They have now started planting concrete poles step by step,” Mr Kong said.
