The government has awarded a US company a $980,000 contract to supply emergency equipment for Siem Reap Airport.
US RM Asia Co will provide two US-made fire engines and an ambulance for the airport, according to company representative Kevin Whitcraft. The equipment is scheduled to arrive in October.
The airport’s upgrade is being financed by a $14 million loan from the Asian Development Bank.
In a signing ceremony at the State Secretariat for Civil Aviation on Thursday, Minister for the Council of Ministers Sok An said the upgrade would attract further investment. He said the investment exemplifies the government’s strategy to improve agriculture and tourism.
The contract is one of six concessions awarded to renovate Siem Reap airport, which is due to be completed by April 2000.
The Commercial Daily reported in late January that Guanxi International Technical Cooperation won a $2.4 million contract for work on Siem Reap Airport.
Nearly 6 percent of international visitors flying into Cambodia in 1998 arrived on direct flights to Siem Reap. The controversial flights started in 1997 to provide tourists an alternate route into Cambodia, and have continued despite an outcry from Phnom Penh-based tourist companies.
