Our belief that construction activity in Cambodia will remain relatively lacklustre in 2012 appears to be justified. Key issues that led to project delays in 2011 and early-2012 (such as flood concerns and land acquisition disputes) have yet to be resolved. Meanwhile, the deterioration in the global economic situation suggests that this bearish outlook for the construction sector could continue in 2013. Therefore, we continue to forecast real growth of 6.6% for construction activity in 2012, while revising down our 2013 forecasts to 7.4% (from a previous forecast of 9.8%).

The key developments in Cambodia's infrastructure sector are:

- In June 2012, Cambodian officials announced that an unnamed Chinese investor will provide around US$400mn for a 300 megawatts (MW) coal-fired power plant in Kampot province. The plant is expected to start construction in November 2012 and be completed in 30 months, according to Kampot Port's President, Vinh Huor. This followed by a US$102mn loan agreement from China Eximbank for the construction of a multipurpose dam in the Battambang province.

- In August 2012, a consortium consisting of China's Sino-Pacific Construction Consultancy, Cambodia's Rail Services and Malaysia's Hikmat Asia expressed an interest in investing nearly US$850mn in rehabilitating the railway line connecting Sihanoukville, Phnom Penh and the Thai border, as well as constructing the long-delayed railway line between Phnom Penh and Vietnam.

In return, Rail Services would operate the railway concession between Phnom Penh and Ho Chi Minh City for at least 60 years.

- During the official launch of the Indian Chamber of Commerce in Cambodia (ICC) in September 2012, India announced that it would provide US$70mn to construct a section of a transmission line between Laos' hydropower plants and Phnom Penh. The funds from India would be used to construct the section from Stueng Trang to Kratie, while the Asian Development Bank would finance the section from Laos to Stueng Trang. The transmission lines from Kratie to Phnom Penh are already in place.

The price of this market report covers 4 quarterly reports on this sector. This quarterly report will be downloadable instantly as a PDF document, with the 3 remaining reports delivered at regular intervals throughout the year.

Click for Report details:Cambodia Infrastructure Report Q4 2012