Developers behind a planned US$17 million factory, billed as the first to produce international-standard concrete products in the Kingdom, are targeting sales in the construction sector.
The plant, due to begin production in April, is set to make products including sewer pipes, piles for building foundations and concrete poles for electric cabling.
It is the result of a multi-million dollar joint venture between Belgian firm Flanders Concrete NV, Vietnam’s Thu Duc – Long An Centrifugal Concrete Company and Cambodia’s Sokchoeun Development Company.
The factory will stand on 10 hectares of land in Khsach Kandal district of Kandal province.
“We are the first high-standard factory to produce concrete products to meet the rising demand of housing developers,” said Srey Chanthou, managing director at 7NG Group, which provided the land for the facility and is the parent firm for Sokchoeun Development Company.
Srey Chanthou did not detail what percentage of the venture was owned by each of the three partners.
However, he said the factory was 90-percent complete.
“In recent years, the construction sector has been increasing – a lot of skyscrapers are being built in Phnom Penh and demand for use of concrete products is increasing as well,” said Srey Chanthou.
Last year, the value of investment projects approved by the state to build residential homes in Phnom Penh increased nearly 12 percent year on year.
But country-wide, the value of all construction projects approved fell nearly 58 percent.
The Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction’s director of construction, Lao Tip Seiha, confirmed it was the first large factory producing standard construction materials in Cambodia, in response to increase demand from housing developers.
“This is a big investment,” he said today.
“It’s good for our country. I hope it will improve the quality of construction here through the high standards of their concrete products.”
“It will make it easier to do construction, saving time and money,” added CamCall Construction Company Managing Director Bou Puthy.
Khsach Kandal district Governor Kong Sophorn said he welcomed the investment, as it would create more jobs for local people.
