Siem Reap in Cambodia is desperate for a new airport until 2020 but the two major partners decided to withdraw and causing major delays.
PHNOM PENH- According to local newspaper Phnom Penh Post, the future new Siem Reap International Airport, which was due to break ground last May has been indefinitely delayed. The airport represents an investment of US$ one billion, entirely funded by South Korea. According to the paper, no new date has been advanced for the start of the airport. Developers look now for new partners as NSRIA Co Ltd, a joint-venture by Camco Airport Co Ltd (Cambodia) and Lees A&A (Korea) decided not to go on with the mega project conceived to accommodate 15 million passengers annually. Siem Reap currently receives over two million passengers per year. Once completed it will be Cambodia’s largest airport. Talking to Tek Reth Samrac including over 800,000 foreign travellers, chairman of the airport steering committee, the newspaper reported that the Airport’s committee “sent them a letter in early April but they replied unofficially, saying the company is facing some internal problems,” he said. “They are seeking a new partner now.”
NSRIA has yet to announce any new plans for groundbreaking this year but financial difficulties seem to hail the company to limbos. The Phnom Penh indicates –maliciously- that most of the projects set up so far with Korea failed. They include among others the construction of a new district dubbed Camko City and the (in)famous tower Gold Tower, named after its golden shiny windows. The government granted NSRIA a 500 hectare land concession in 2010. The site is 60 kilometres from the city of Siem Reap However, NSRIA chief executive Lee Tae-Hwan was sentenced last March to seven years prison due to a financial scandal at Busan Savings Bank. According to tourism professionals, Siem Reap will be in desperate need for a brand new airport by 2020 as the total number of tourists to Cambodia is expected to reach over seven million per year.
Luc Citrinot a French national is a freelance journalist and consultant in tourism and air transport with over 20 years experience. Based in Paris and Bangkok, he works for various travel and air transport trade publications in Europe and Asia.
