The Phnom Penh 2020 master plan, which will determine the future development of the city, has been extended for another 15 years. The original draft, which outlines the city’s planning provisions up to 2020, will now run to 2035, according to Phnom Penh municipality officials.

Long Dimanch, spokesman for the Phnom Penh municipality, said the draft master plan had been prepared from 2005 to 2020, but a group of expert officials has indicated that the plan will now be extended until 2035. The master plan,which is yet to be adopted, is expected to go to the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction this year for approval. Mr Dimanch could not confirm the date of the adoption but said that the sooner the plan is adopted, the better.

“The master plan is not only about the city’s expansion, it is also about population and economic growth in order to prepare, manage and improve the city in the future,” he said.

The first draft of the master plan was prepared by a group of experts from Paris, France. However, the extension reaching to 2035 has been prepared by experts from the ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction and experts from the municipality.

Meng Bonnarith, spokesman for the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction, said the updated master plan was taking shape, would be submitted to the council of ministers and an interior meeting had already been held.

“As the population grows more in the city, we need to cater for this expansion in our master plan,” he said. However, he did not detail the information.

The National Committee of the Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction is in charge of the Phnom Penh master plan. Pen Sophal, the secretary of state of the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction, denied to comment, requesting an official letter from The Phnom Penh Post.