Building projects on rise this year

[PHNOM PENH POST]

The value of construction projects approved by the government increased by around a third in January, compared to the same period of 2010, officials said yesterday.

According to figures released by the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction yesterday, it approved 190 construction projects in the first month of 2011, worth an estimated US$112 million.

This compared to the 204 construction projects worth $84 million approved in January of 2010 — an increase in value of around 33 percent.

“If we look to January last year, it was quiet. This [rise] is because of the ministry’s efforts to pave the way for investors, by making it easier to do business in the construction sector in Cambodia,” said Lao Tip Seiha, director of the construction department at the Ministry.

So far this year, he has seen investors plan large developments such as garment and cassava processing factories and rice mills. Tile factories and housing developments from a company called Borey in Phnom Penh were also tabled.

“We are very happy to see the value of construction increase. We saw that construction sector is recovering [so far] this year,” he said, highlighting that increased project worth was due to the large size of potential builds.

Daniel Parkes, Country Manager of real estate company CB Richard Ellis (Cambodia), said he was optimistic on the future of the sector yesterday, stating that he expected investment to increase both this year and continue to grow next year.