Phnom Penh: The Ministry of Public Works and Transport plans to directly connect water transport from Bassac river to the sea in Kep province after completing the master plan.

At the closing ceremony of the meeting to summarize the work results of 2021 and work directions for 2022 on January 28, 2022, the Minister of Public Works and Transport, Mr. Sun Chanthol has said that the Ministry is considering plans to connect water way of Bassac river to the sea directly, without having to go through the international lead port of Vietnam.

Mr. Chanthol has confirmed that the Ministry has completed the study on the master plan to connect Bassac river to the sea in Kep province and has already reported to the Prime Minister of Cambodia and the Minister of Interior already.

The ministry is studying further the impact and size of the cost of this project.

The Minister of Public Works said that the connection of water transport from the Bassac River to the sea in Kep province is to develop the water transport sector, while some provinces such as Takeo will benefit from this downstream connection.

In 2021, Sihanoukville Autonomous Port handled about 6.9 million tons of cargo, an increase of 5.99 percent and total revenue of about 92 million USD, an increase of 17.64 percent compared to the implementation in 2020. While the Phnom Penh Autonomous Port handled about 4.2 million tons of cargo, an increase of 13.41 percent and total revenue of about 34 million USD, an increase of 14.37 percent compared to the implementation in 2020.

The Ministry is developing a number of riverbank satellites as a strategy to boost waterway transport to bring port services closer to consumers and make local ports have the potential to support national economic growth and reduce poverty.