A bridge linking Kandal town with the province’s Kien Svay district will cost US$30 million and is set to boost trade, officials said yesterday,

Cambodia wants to spend millions, funded by a Chinese government loan, on the construction of a bridge across the Bassac River by Ta Khmao.

Thy Sophorn, a member of the bridge construction commission, said yesterday that the 795-metre bridge would link the Prek Samraong area, on the western side the river, with an area near Cham Puh Kh’aek Pagoda, on the eastern side.

“We are expecting loan from the Chinese government to build this bridge. We hope that construction can be launched next year,” Thy Sophorn said.

He added that on September 19, a Cambodian delegation will leave for China to discuss the possibility of acquiring the loan. The bridge, he said, was set to be 10 metres high, 13.5 metres wide and take 40 months to build.

Kandal’s provincial governor Chhun Sirum, said yesterday that the bridge would enable two areas with economic potential to exchange more goods and agricultural products. It would also allow traders from across the Kingdom to bypass Phnom Penh.

He said that farmers from Prey Veng and Svay Rieng provinces, together with agricultural producers from parts of Kampong Cham, would be able to transport their products over the bridge without being forced to pass through the Kingdom's capital city.

It would link them to the Southern provinces including Kandal, Takeo, Kampot and Kep.

“We hope that the bridge will play an important role in both promoting the exchange of agricultural products and easing the traffic congestion in Phnom Penh,” Chhun Sirun said.

The government has been working to expand the country’s infrastructure by connecting critical economic zones that were previously separated by rivers.

On March 31 this year, the Prek Kdam Cambodia-China Friendship Bridge, which was built using a Chinese loan of $28.8 million, was officially opened in the north of Kandal province.