T HE Ministry of Public Works has struck a $120 million deal with a joint
Cambodian-Malaysian-French consortium to upgrade Pochentong international
airport to boost the Kingdom's air service.
A Sept 5 agreement allows the
French GTM Entrepose and Dumez-GTM, Malaysian Muhibbah Engineering Berhad and
Muhibbah Masteron Sdn Bhd, and Cambodia's United Company Ltd. to operate the new
airport on the build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis. The concession will end in 20
years after which the new airport would be turned over to the Cambodian
government.
The consortium has appointed Malaysia Airports Berhad and
Aeroport de Paris to form an operation company to manage the airport under the
name of Cambodia Airport Management Services.
The three-year project
will include a 3,600-meter runway parallel with the existing one, a lighting and
navigational system and connecting ramps to fit Boeing 747-400 aircraft. Air
service will be operated in a two-floor terminal which will have the capacity to
handle 600 passengers per hour.
"This is the first ever multilateral
contract because it involves many partners. This contract is very important in
both amount and quality," Premier Prince Norodom Ranariddh said after the
signing ceremony.