PM ‘ambitious’ for Cambodia’s infrastructure
PRIME Minister Hun Manet has expressed his ambition to see future Cambodian generations build high-quality expressways, both under and above ground, along with high-rise buildings, like many developed foreign countries.
He shared his aspirations as he presided over the Ministry of Industry, Science, Technology & Innovation’s annual meeting to review its work in 2023 and set its working direction for 2024, on February 21.
“In the near future, Cambodia will be capable of building all of its own infrastructure, including expressways and subways. I am compelled to ensure this vision comes true,” he said.
He added that the Kingdom was rapidly gaining the knowledge it needed to complete complex civic and engineering tasks without foreign aid. In 1990, for example, experts from the World Bank and other international agencies provided Cambodia with assistance in drawing up fiscal policy, but now Cambodian specialists had the skills to do so, while the Kingdom’s engineers are capable of building high-rise buildings and even bridges across rivers.
Manet said that although subway systems are yet to be built, he believed it will surely happen in the future.
In order to realise these ambitions, he encouraged the private sector to pursue self-reliance.
He also recommended that the ministry accelerate the evolution of Cambodian industry from labourintensive industries to ones which are skill and knowledge-based, through connecting to global value chains, integrating regional production networks and encouraging inclusive development.
Hem Vanndy, Minister of Industry, Science, Technology and Innovation, said the ministry provided technical skills and industrial safety training to 2,825 trainees from 687 factories in 2023, a 24 per cent increase on its 2022 results.
It has also stimulated the development of green and new generation industry, while controlling air pollution and managing industrial wastes, he continued.
“In addition, as of December 29 last year, we had registered 1,099 patents,” he added.