"Crowd-Funded" 250-kilometre Border Ring Road Going Ahead In Northeast Cambodia
More than US $26 million donated to the Border Infrastructure Development Fund (BIDF) by more than 720 thousand people will be used to continue the constriction of the 250-kilometre border ring road on the Laotian border in Mondulkiri and Ratanikiri provinces.
With multiple infrastructure projects underway country-wide, many utilise foreign investment and partnerships on large-scale expressways, ports, canals, airports, bridges and others, but public donations will help fund this project although a large sum of the monies required will still come from the Cambodian government.
It should be noted that this is a long-term construction project that could take a decade to complete and the 2,260-kilometer border ring road actually began in 1994. Half of the total ring road border has been completed and one report suggests that construction is expected to be completed in April 2027.
The funding from the public will help to construct four new paved roads with a total length of 250km and be 9-10 meters wide, with driving surfaces seven meters wide. 147km of these roads will be in Mondulkiri province, while 102km will be in Ratanakiri province.
At a press conference held at the start of November 2024, it was confirmed that the 250km represents 18.4 per cent of the remaining approximately 50 per cent of Cambodia’s unfinished border ring road network.
Beyond helping complete the road network, the budget also includes infrastructure enhancements and mine clearance. Already approximately 30,000 hectares of mines and unexploded ordnance have been cleared as part of this project.
What is the Border Infrastructure Development Fund (BIDF)?
Prime Minister Hun Manet launched the Border Infrastructure Development Fund (BIDF) in August 2024 aimed at raising additional funds to enhance infrastructure along the country's borders specifically.
Kim Bunthan, Minister Delegate Attached to the Prime Minister, is the head of an ad-hoc working group and General Kwan Seam of Military Engineering Forces has been appointed as the deputy head to oversee the BIDF.
Bunthan said, “The reason the government has assigned this task to the Commander of Engineering Unit is due to their previous experience in building roads in border areas, and the complex geographical factors along the border, including the mountainous terrain, unexploded ordnances and the threat from malaria.”
By September almost 400,000 people had donated money to the BIDF and in the latest update in November, the number had approached nearly three-quarters of a million!
Hun Manet said in September 2024 that the constructed border ring road has reached a length of around 1,300 km, which is only half of the goal. “We have planned to complete the construction of the remaining section within 10 years at the cost of more than 200 million dollars.”