A South Korean-owned firm calling itself Boeng Snour Development Investment Co told Prime Minister Hun Sen on Sunday it wants to invest $300 million to build a massive “world trade center” skyscraper in Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district, officials said.
“The company will build a 50-story world trade center building,” Hun Sen’s spokesman Eang Sophalleth said. “The whole project would take 10 years…. The investment will create a positive image for Cambodia because we will have a 50-story building if the project is complete,” he said.
Hun Sen told the firm during a meeting at his Takhmau district home in Kandal province that it must meet with City Hall officials to work out details of its plan, he said.
Currently, the tallest building in Cambodia is the 15-story InterContinental Hotel in Phnom Penh.
Canadia Bank and Vattanac Bank are both building taller buildings of about 26 stories, near the city’s railway station.
The 70 hectares of land the company is seeking to build on is technically located on public property—the former Boeng Snour lake, which in recent years was filled in by unknown developers.
Youn Heng, deputy director of the Evaluation and Incentive Department at the Center for the Development of Cambodia, said the CDC will grant the Boeng Snour investors a license as soon as they produce a master plan.
Phnom Penh Municipal Deputy Governor Pa Socheatvong said City Hall is studying Boeng Snor Development’s plans.
South Korean firms have recently become major players in Phnom Penh’s real estate market. Last year, South Korean firm World City was given approval to build a $2 billion satellite city in the northwest of Phnom Penh and has begun filling in Pong Peav lake there.
Sok Kong, Sokimex oil tycoon, also owns about 200 hectares of filled in land on the former Boeng Snour lake. He was urged last year by the government to build a new national sports complex, but has since declined.