Marriage season looms for Koh Pich developer.

The developer of a conference centre on Phnom Penh’s Koh Pich Island is racing against time to complete a portion of the under-construction building in time for the start of the wedding season at the end of October.

Prak Chan Long, general manager of Diamond Island Convention and Exhibition Centre, said 130 couples had already booked the centre for their wedding celebrations. The wedding season runs from late October to March.

“We will open the door for customers who want to have their wedding ceremony here at the end of October, and hopefully a lot more couples will come because we have a good location and the centre is bigger than others,” he said.

Touch Samnang, project manager and architect for the centre, admitted the whole building would not be ready by the time the first couples arrived for their wedding celebrations.

However, construction was 80 to 90 percent complete and the interiors were almost finished, he said, meaning some portions of the building would be suitable for hosting weddings from the end of October. The whole project would be finished in November, he added.

The Overseas Cambodia Investment Corp (OCIC), which has the same owners as Canadia Bank, has spent over US$4 million on the centre, which will consist of two buildings when completed. It is on a 6-hectare site and will also have parking for 2,000 cars.

The centre will be open on the sides in a traditional Khmer style, meaning less work will be required to fit out the building.

Construction began in May of this year, Touch Samnang said, by Diamond Island Construction Co. The centre is part of a larger $200 million OCIC development on Koh Pich, or Diamond Island, which will occupy 75 hectares when completed. The island is on the Tonle Bassac River in Chamkarmon district, near the National Assembly.

The project was slated for completion by 2016 when approved in 2006.