The Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) has approved a more than $68 million hotel project in Poipet town, it said on Friday.

The project, funded by Boonma Heng Co Ltd, aims to build the first four-star hotel in the province, complete with 392 rooms and a shopping centre in Poipet’s Kbal Spean 1 village. The venture is said to create up to 836 jobs.

The Post could not find any official websites for Boonma Heng, nor anything about the company from the Ministry of Commerce’s listings.

Poipet governor San Sean Ho told The Post on Sunday that he had not received any information about the project as yet, but he welcomed any major development in the town.

He said Poipet has about 50 hotels and more than 30 guesthouses. “But it is beginning to face a shortage of such accommodation and needs more rooms,” he said.

He said Poipet, which is the main border crossing to Thailand, is now attracting more interest from investors, especially those from China.

Poipet has three operational special economic zones with another two in the works.

At the beginning of this year, a report from CL Realty said the price of land in Poipet was between $100 and $1,000 per square metre.

CL Realty CEO Sear Chailin said the country’s main international gateway is showing high potential for both trade and tourism.

“Because of these favourable conditions, the land price in Poipet town is going up,” he said.