Cambodia has seen rapid urbanisation over the past few decades, with over 26 per cent of the country’s 17 million population now living in urban areas. OCIC, one of Cambodia's leading diversified conglomerates, has been at the forefront of urban development in Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh, building neighbourhoods across the city.
In light of the company’s 25th anniversary celebration in 2025, Thierry Tea, Vice-President of OCIC, sat down with B2B Cambodia to reflect on the company’s history and Phnom Penh’s transformation over the past two decades.
OCIC's founder, Lok Neak Oknha Dr. Pung Kheav Se, started his career in 1991 in Cambodia. He first started working in the financial sector under a bank, and then he founded Canadia Bank himself in 1993.
Thierry shared that it took about 10 years before Dr. Pung Kheav Se became successful with the bank, which led him to want to develop more projects.
“Already being in the construction sector building the bank’s branches, he decided to launch OCIC, and thanks to his expertise in construction, he decided to also develop real estate,” said Thierry. “He developed Sorya Mall, which was the first mall in Cambodia, and then Borey Chamkarmon, which was one of the first residential projects in Cambodia, so that was the launch of OCIC and its first venture into real estate development.”
Cambodia and Phnom Penh were very different landscapes when OCIC first got started 25 years ago. There was very little real estate development and a huge housing need for the growing population.
“That was what triggered the development of OCIC in the beginning, so first it was about building housing for customers who needed them, creating opportunities for people to become homeowners and develop their lives with their families," explained Thierry.
Cambodia today has a successful and growing economy, with a completely new generation of people and needs.
“We have Millennials, Gen Z, who want a different customer experience,” he said. “There is also still need for healthcare and travel, so this is the reason why OCIC has ventured into hospitality, hotels, hospitals, clinics for healthcare services. This is really still at the core of our Founder and Group's mission to serve the needs of the population, especially the growing population of young people.”
We need to have more lifestyle spaces… green spaces, more greenery, and these are some of the reasons why we are contributing more to the development of parks such as Coconut Park, Norea Park, Norea Parkway, where people can walk. COVID especially made people realise that life is short, we only have one, and we need to enjoy it with the people we love, our families, our friends, so this is what we are catering to nowadays.
Watch Part 2 of our interview with Thierry Tea on OCIC's contributions to Cambodia's urban development:
Today, OCIC has a number of major neighbourhood projects in Phnom Penh, catering to a diverse array of housing and commercial development needs, including Chroy Chongvar, Olympia City and Norea City. However, the first major development the company embarked on was Koh Pich, which has shaped OCIC’s approach to neighbourhood development overall.
“In 2006, Koh Pich was launched with a vision to develop an entire neighbourhood, and it started to gain success through its wedding halls and event spaces for exhibitions and expos… then we grew to be able to handle more structured and organised event spaces like the one in Chroy Chongvar,” shared Thierry.
Today, OCIC halls in Chroy Chongvar cater to a lot of big weddings, as well as international events such as the ASEAN 2022 Summit hosted in Cambodia. We had the opportunity to welcome former U.S. President Joe Biden, former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, so this was the type of experience OCIC benefited from [through developing Koh Pich].
“We have also contributed to the development of more education [in Cambodia] with Canadian International School, which started from one tiny class of less than 10 students, to now a new campus in Koh Pich with more than 1,500 students," he added.
Koh Pich also has new housing developments like the Two River Residence and Diamond Bay Garden, the latter of which is officially set to launch in 2026.
“Today there are a few other international hotels around Koh Pich, which is leading to more startups, more international and local business,” he said. “The Connexion building is an opportunity for OCIC to contribute to the startup ecosystem; the digital economy is growing, is thriving, and this is what we are now supporting.”
On the subject of the Connexion building, the conversation shifted to the topic of sustainability, a central principal of OCIC's development strategy.
“Incorporating more greenery, more energy reduction, into the architecture of our buildings is very, very important. Connextion, for example, uses less electricity because we use less air conditioning, there's more natural airflow coming in, and each office [within the building] has its own energy consumption, so they can individually control it more,” Thierry explained. “We have used more plants, more trees, and this is something that is also very important for our clients. We've seen this [growing trend] in Siem Reap, so it's a good time to incorporate more of this in Phnom Penh.”
Looking ahead, while reflecting on OCIC's 25-year journey in Cambodia's development, Thierry said there is a lot he looks forward to, particularly as OCIC continues to complete new major developments like the Techo International Airport (TIA).
Our Chairman has been able to achieve a lot in the last 25 years, and we are looking at the next 25 and 50 years. With the development of the new Techo International Airport, we show a commitment to continue supporting the growth of Cambodia for the next 50 years. We are also looking at developing more real estate projects for our customers.
“We have been able to arrive to where we are today, the milestone of 25 years, by serving our customers and our communities, and we want to continue to improve and do better for them, but also for the next generation, for their children and their children's children. What we'd like to say is we need more talent in the group to continue to serve our growing pool of customers, both in the realm of lifestyle and housing opportunities,” he concluded.
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