Aircraft parked on the tarmac at Sihanoukville International Airport. The new airport in Phnom Penh will be a 4F class airport and occupy 2,600ha. Heng Chivoan
Cambodia Airports (SCA) and Overseas Cambodia Investment Corporation (OCIC) have agreed to jointly develop the new airport which will serve Phnom Penh, State Secretariat of Civil Aviation (SSCA) spokesman Sin Chansereyvutha said on Wednesday.
He told The Post that SSCA secretary of state Mao Havannal led a meeting on Tuesday to discuss the project with representatives from OCIC and Vinci Airports, which is SCA’s parent company based in France.
He said both companies agreed to draft an agreement or memorandum of understanding before February 13 outlining their cooperation on the new project, which is monitored by the SSCA.
“I’m optimistic that OCIC has enough human resource, financial and technical capacity for the new airport project,” said Chansereyvutha.
SCA communications and public relations director Khek Norinda told The Post on Wednesday that the firm expresses its firm commitment to fulfil the duties that the government entrusted it with in 1995.
“Accompanying the government in designing, developing, financing and managing new international airport projects – in particular, the new Phnom Penh airport project – is part of that mission.
“Cambodia Airports remains available and committed to a constructive dialogue on the new Phnom Penh airport project under the guidance of the Royal Government of Cambodia and the SSCA,” Norinda said.
The acronym SCA comes from Cambodia Airports’ commercial name Societe Concessionnaire de l’Aeroport. It is a joint venture between Vinci Airports and Muhibbah Masteron (Cambodia) Co Ltd.
SCA operates the Kingdom’s three international airports – in Phnom Penh, Siem Reap town and Sihanoukville – under a 45-year concession dating back to 1995.
Speaking during Tuesday’s meeting, Havannal said both Vinci Airports and OCIC expressed their desire to work together on the project.
“In case of technical necessity, both parties shall provide consultation skills under the coordination of the SSCA,” he said.
The new airport will be a 4F class airport, occupying 2,600ha in Kandal province’s Kandal Stung district and will cost an estimated $1.5 billion to build.
Of that, $1.1 billion will come from loans from overseas banking institutions, while $280 million will be contributed by the OCIC.
It is unclear where the remaining $120 million – which will be used as registration capital – will come from.
OCIC will be responsible for 90 per cent of the project, while the remaining 10 per cent belongs to SSCA, Council of Ministers secretary of state in charge of civil aviation Tek Reth Samrach said in 2017.
Cambodia Airport Investment Co Ltd said three of the five firms that entered the bidding process for construction rights to the airport were chosen. All are Chinese owned.
