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Cambodia has selected Singapore’s YCH Group to develop the Phnom Penh Logistics Complex (PPLC)
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The logistics center will use logistics technology to improve resilience, visibility and logistics process flow, and will have a training academy to develop the local human capital
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The PPLC will be launched under the Smart Growth Connect initiative and the ASEAN Smart Logistics Network that supports the ASEAN Connectivity Master Plan 2025
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The logistics center will strengthen Cambodia’s connectivity with the Mekong countries and southwestern China
The Cambodian government has chosen a Singapore supply chain company to develop and operate a smart logistics hub in the capital city of Phnom Penh that is expected to strengthen Cambodia’s connectivity and accelerate its economic growth.
Cambodia’s Ministry of Public Works and Transport and YCH Group Pte Ltd cemented the deal on the Phnom Penh Logistics Complex (PPLC) project in a virtual signing ceremony held on March 4, 2021, according to an announcement on the Singapore government’s website.
The framework agreement provides for the collaboration between Cambodia’s public works ministry and YCH, which will design, develop, and operate the PPLC.
“The development is predicated on YCH’s ‘SuperPort Plus’ concept. In addition to being a modern, world-class logistics complex, PPLC will also feature the use of logistics technology to improve resilience, visibility and logistics process flow, and a training academy to develop Cambodia’s local human capital in the logistics sector,” said the release.
The PPLC will be the second project launched under the Smart Growth Connect (SGConnect) initiative of the ASEAN Business Advisory Council 2018 Fifth Legacy Project spearheaded by YCH. SGConnect aims to help growing cities urbanize by piloting smart growth centers in each ASEAN member state.
The PPLC will also be the second project under the ASEAN Smart Logistics Network (ASLN) that supports the ASEAN Connectivity Master Plan 2025. The ASLN aims to achieve a seamlessly and comprehensively connected and integrated ASEAN for competitiveness and inclusiveness.
The logistics center is expected to help strengthen Cambodia’s connectivity with the broader intra-regional trade flows, particularly among the Mekong countries (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam) and southwestern China, and support Cambodia’s long-term economic growth.
Financial institutions like the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation and the Clifford Capital Pte Ltd have expressed interest to fund the various aspects of the project, noted the announcement.
“This partnership will support Cambodia to realise its vision to be a regional logistics hub as outlined in the Interim Master Plan on Intermodal Transport Connectivity and Logistics System,” Senior Minister Sun Chanthol of Cambodia said. “Logistics is a key sector for Cambodia to achieve our target of being an upper middle-income country by 2030 and high-income country by 2050.”
YCH executive chairman Robert Yap said that under the collaboration, “we will not only build a logistics complex, but also a comprehensive logistics ecosystem and a competent local logistics workforce.”
Photo by Paul Szewczyk on Unsplash
