WorldBridge International Group will sink $25 million into developing an industrial park for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Kandal province after signing a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Industry and Handicrafts on Friday, the company’s chairman said yesterday.

The industrial park, named the “SME Eco Park”, will encompass 4 hectares of land and aims to be a centralised hub for the manufacture and production of raw materials, including agriculture and food products, as well as providing packaging services and logistics support.

Rithy Sear, chairman of WorldBridge International Group, said this was one of the company’s first public-private partnerships, and WorldBridge would foot the bill for development while the ministry would help with licensing procedures and promoting the industrial park to attract SMEs.

“The SME park will bring a lot of value-added to locally produced products as companies will not have to spend on the startup costs and will only have to pay rent and purchase machinery,” he said.

He added that currently Cambodian products are not competitive due to fragmented supply chain dynamics, and that having a designated area with full-service capabilities would cut down on overhead.

While Sear declined to give a timeline for completion of the project, he said that if successful the model could be replicated across the country.