PHNOM PENH: Senior Minister Sun Chanthol, Minister of Public Works and Transport, confirmed that construction on the Phnom Penh-Bavet Expressway to begin in mid-2023, becoming Cambodia’s second expressway to facilitate transportation and economic development in Cambodia.

Senior Minister stated that a Chinese company called CRIG signed a Framework Agreement to complete the study for the Phnom Penh-Bavet Expressway within ten months. Unfortunately, the company did not graduate within ten months, resulting in a delay of up to 3 years and will not be technically correct.

“So we handed the study over to CRBC and approved the company to begin the study,” he explained. We have already signed a memorandum of understanding as a company and a concession agreement to open the construction site next year by the end of 2022.

“We intend to open the site (Phnom Penh-Bavet Expressway) in the middle of next year because CRBC has all the necessary experience and materials,” he said. The Expressway project consists of a completely new lane with a total length of approximately 135 kilometers (km). The project will be four lanes and a width of 25.5 meters.  It will connect Phnom Penh’s third ring road to Bavet on the Cambodian-Vietnamese border via Kandal, Prey Veng, and Svay Rieng provinces.

According to a JICA study report, the Viaduct section is 12 kilometers long, the Culvert section is 28.4 kilometers long, and the Embankment section is 85.8 kilometers long. The Phnom Penh-Bavet Expressway includes seven interchange lanes, six rest stops, and a new border gate.