Phnom Penh: Minister of Public Works and Transport, Sun Chanthol, has announced that he welcomes US companies to bid for road construction in Cambodia. This was in response to US Ambassador, Patrick W. Murphy expressing the desire to see American companies bid for road construction in the kingdom.

The Minister has requested the United States during a meeting on Friday to provide technical equipment to inspect the road while requesting cooperation and sharing experiences through construction skills training between the Institute of Public Works and Transport and well-known universities in the US. He has also asked the US ambassador to introduce his construction company willing to bid for road constructions in Cambodia.

He says the proposal is a way of showing to the United States that the Royal Government of Cambodia has never discriminated against American companies to build roads in Cambodia. He cited reports coming from the United States telling that Cambodia only takes "this country or that country but not American companies".

 Minister Chanthol says, "I have asked the United States to introduce its construction company to bid for $500 million on National Road 5 and more than $100 million for National Road 4, but no US companies bidding." He relayed that the US had said Cambodia only allowed other foreign companies such as Chinese companies, Korean companies to build the road. He has emphasised on Cambodia's many plans to build expensive roads, but never had any US companies came to bid.