The government issued construction permits for 3,827 projects nationwide in January-November 2022 with total registered capital of $2.635 billion – down by 98 developments and 49.42 per cent in terms of value over the same time last year, according to a Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction report.
During the period, the ministry and sub-national authorities respectively issued construction permits for 202 and 3,625 projects valued at $2.088 billion and $547.21 million, the report said, adding that the projects represent a total floor area of 6.597 million square metres.
From 2000 to November 2022, the government issued construction permits for 61,418 projects with total registered capital of $68.838 billion, with a cumulative floor area of 173.214 million square metres, the report added.
Of these 2,534 projects are categorised as “high-rises”, with the capital housing the most at 1,675, followed by Preah Sihanouk (685) and Banteay Meanchey (131).
A “high-rise” is identified as a building with a fifth above-ground floor, not counting the ground level, and hence at least six storeys tall using the typical North American scheme.
Cambodia Constructors Association general manager Chiv Sivpheng told The Post that even a year on since the government moved to allow for the resumption of socio-economic activity, the construction industry has yet to return to its pre-Covid-19 state, which he blamed on a general supply glut in the real estate sale and rental market.
Sivpheng assured that the on-year declines in construction projects and registered capital would not pose significant risks for the sector. “If other sectors, even tourism, are able to recover, the construction and real estate market too will rebound, but it will not do so as quickly,” he said.
Global Real Estate Association president Sam Soknoeun predicted that geopolitical and trade disputes among major powers will continue to weigh down on the Cambodian construction and real estate sector in 2023.
“This sector needs at least another two or three years to perform as well as it had prior to 2019,” he said, alluding to turbulence felt in the real estate and construction sector throughout 2019 – prior to the pandemic – largely as a result of a ban on online gambling.
