Qatar Al Jazeera TV article on May 16, original title: Cambodia launched a construction plan of US $36.6 billion, and China and Japan launched a bid Cambodia is promoting infrastructure construction, but needs some help from foreign friends to realize the construction plan estimated to cost 36.6 billion US dollars. This is the final investment amount of the overall plan released by the Cambodian government earlier this year, which includes 174 projects in total. The plan will thoroughly improve the national transportation and logistics network within 10 years.

The Cambodian government and private enterprises will indeed provide funds for infrastructure projects in the country, but the investment from China and Japan is the main part. The two countries are also the only two countries with Cambodia's highest title of diplomatic relations - "comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership". So far, China's "Belt and Road" initiative has led infrastructure construction, including some major projects, such as the first expressway from the capital Phnom Penh to the coastal city Sihanouk.

At the same time, Japan has maintained its own process, focusing on a series of projects, such as new wastewater treatment facilities and upgrading existing roads. "Compared with China's investment in infrastructure, Japan's investment is very limited. Because China's investment is very large, we need to find a market segment to fill the gap, or adjust the investment from a higher perspective," said Takashi Saizaki, a scholar at the University of Tokyo.

In recent years, Beijing no longer invests in some large-scale projects, but inclines to projects with good expected returns. These projects are usually funded in the form of "build operate transfer" agreements, according to which the company supervising the work bears the development costs in exchange for the income generated by completing the project within the scheduled period. At the end of the agreement, ownership will be transferred to the host government. A key part of Cambodia's ambitious vision will depend on this financing.

The overall plan of Cambodia's infrastructure includes nine large-scale projects. Most of these projects are still under feasibility study, but almost all of them have been contacted by Japan International Cooperation Agency or China Road and Bridge Corporation to some extent. Last year, CRBC broke ground on the second expressway between Phnom Penh and the border city of Bayu, which is one of nine large-scale projects.  

Matthew Owen, the development director of a Singapore shipping company project in Cambodia, said: "Everyone has his own influence and everyone has his own harvest. This is not even a competition, just like a group of countries trying to become Cambodia's best friend. Cambodia is open to any country willing to make it better. If they want to compete who can build the largest bridge, then go. " (Author Andrew Hafner, translated by Chen Xin)