Kampong Cham is set to become the first province in Cambodia to complete the land measurement and registration process for its residents. 

Prime Minister Hun Manet is expected to visit the province in December to announce the achievement of this milestone.

Cambodia’s history has been marked by conflict, especially under the Khmer Rouge regime, which abolished private ownership, particularly land ownership, and turned land into collective property. Following the fall of the regime, many land disputes arose among the people of the Kingdom.

In addition, clear boundaries between private and state land were lacking, according to Hun Manet, as he addressed the November 26 closing ceremony of the annual review and planning meeting of the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning, and Construction.

“We will announce Kampong Cham as the first province to complete land measurement and registration. Congratulations! In spite of past wars, I have declared 15 provinces mine-free. Now, we are starting to declare that provinces have completed land measurement and registration, beginning with Kampong Cham,” he said. 

The prime minister expressed the hope that land measurement and registration will be fully completed by 2029, ensuring the issuance of private ownership titles. If that target is hit, it will occur on the 40th anniversary of when Cambodia first permitted private land ownership, in 1989.

In August, during the first anniversary of his seventh-mandate government, Manet highlighted that over the past 12 months, the government had measured and registered more than two million plots of land, issuing nearly 590,000 titles.

At the time, he noted that approximately 2.5 million plots remain to be measured, with the process expected to be completed by 2025. This will involve over 5,000 personnel and an estimated budget of $100 million.

However, today, he acknowledged that the process of land measurement and registration is not an easy task. He did not offer an explanation for the change in timeframe.