Cambodian PM launches new Chinese-funded airport in Siem Reap
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and Chinese officials on Thursday (November 16) launched Cambodia's new China-backed Siem Reap-Angkor International Airport, slated to serve as the primary gateway to the country's Angkor Wat temple complex.
The airport, initially designed to handle seven million passengers annually, has plans to increase its capacity to 12 million passengers by 2040 under a Cambodia-China partnership.
It began commercial operations a month ago and was built at a cost of about $1.1 billion on 1,730 acres of land, about 40 km east of Angkor Wat.
At the opening ceremony attended by Chinese ambassador to Cambodia Wang Wentian and Yunnan Province Governor Wang Yubo, Cambodian leader Hun Manet described the airport as a "fruit of peace" and "another new achievement of the solid friendship between Cambodia and China" following the 2022 completion of the Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway, another Chinese-funded project.
