The $500.4 million Tourism, Ecological, Marine and International (Temi) tourism project has been approved by the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC), according to a notice on its Facebook page on Monday.

The project is part of Chinese-owned Union City Development Group Co Ltd’s (UDG) Dara Sakor Tourism Resort project.

The CDC said it approved UDG’s proposal to invest in a five-star hotel with 800 rooms, a commercial centre, a golf course, bungalows, villas, amusement parks, and a naval park among other attractions.

The project is located in Koh Kong province’s Kiri Sakor district and is set to create more than 5,000 jobs.

It follows another UDG project, the “Tourism Vacation Town” project, which was announced in September last year, with a $1.2 billion investment.

Only a small part

Koh Kong province deputy governor Sok Sothy on Tuesday said Temi is only a small part of UDG’s larger development project, which is currently at the stage of preparing its foundation.

“I think that this is merely an approval in phase. The whole project has already been approved,” he said.

Because Temi is a major project under national-level jurisdiction, Sothy said he does not have further details. However, he said: “The project will promote Koh Kong province’s image as well as create jobs and increase local people’s income.”

He said because conditions in Koh Kong province are favourable in all areas, the number of investors and tourists travelling to the province has increased steadily, as have the number of hotels and guesthouses.

UDG, a subsidiary of state-owned Chinese real estate developer Tianjin Wanlong Group Co Ltd, holds a 45,000ha land concession in Koh Kong’s Botum Sakor and Kiri Sakor districts.

In 2008, it received a 99-year lease approval to build Dara Sakor Seashore Resort – a project that consists of a casino and golf course within Botum Sakor National Park.