Worldbridge Land (Cambodia) and China’s Sino Great Wall International Engineering Company signed an agreement yesterday to jointly develop and improve the kingdom’s public infrastructure.
Sear Rithy, chairman of Worldbridge Group and director-general of Worldbridge Land, said the agreement with Sino Great Wall would pave the way for a large Chinese conglomerate to “enter” Cambodia under the Chinese government’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
“We want funds from China’s BRI but we are not qualified to get it, so we have to partner with a large Chinese company,” said Rithy. “I believe this agreement is a step forward and will contribute towards building public infrastructure like roads and bridges in Cambodia,” he added.
According to Rithy, under the terms of the agreement the stake between Sino Great Wall and Worldbridge would be 60-40. “Sino Great Wall has a bigger stake as they would be bringing in the funds under the BRI,” he said.
Liang Rong, vice chairman of Sino Great Wall, said his company was confident that the joint venture with Worldbridge Land would be a success. “Worldbridge has a good reputation locally and also they have good connections with the Cambodian government,” said Liang.
“We’re looking at about $3 billion in terms of funds for this public infrastructure project,” he added. Sino Great Wall International Engineering is one of the biggest Chinese companies listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange according to Liang.
Last December, a consortium led by Sino Great Wall International won a $2.7 billion contract to build the 133-storey Twin Trade Centre in Phnom Penh which will be one of the world’s tallest buildings, according to its parent Sino Great Wall Co Ltd.
This article was originally published in the Khmer Times.
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