National Holiday Announced For Groundbreaking Ceremony Of Funan Techo Canal
The government of Cambodia has announced that a national holiday will be observed this upcoming Monday, August 5, 2024, to celebrate the groundbreaking ceremony of the Funan Techo Canal.
All civil servants, staff, employees and students in Cambodia will receive a day off to commemorate the groundbreaking of the Funan Techo Canal, a major infrastructure waterway project that will connect the Bassac river in Phnom Penh to the sea in Kep province.
To do so, the 180 km canal will pass through the provinces of Kandal, Takeo, Kampot and Kep. The project is expected to cost around USD 1.7 billion – with funding primarily from the China Road and Bridge Corporation under a 50-year Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) model – and is estimated to take around five to six years to complete.
The Cambodian government has positioned the Funan Techo Canal as a vital project for the country’s aspirations to become a major logistics hub in Southeast Asia.
The canal is expected to enhance connectivity within the country, facilitate smoother trade routes, cut shipping costs by potentially 70 per cent, and generate significant revenue from tolls. Cambodia is also hopeful that the new waterway will help to attract more foreign investment.
What Should Businesses Know About The National Holiday Declared For The Funan Techo Canal Groundbreaking
According to the government circular signed by Prime Minister Hun Manet and disseminated on August 1, 2024:
- Civil servants, staff, workers and students across all ministries, entities, public and private institutions, factories and enterprises in Cambodia should be allowed to take a holiday on August 5, 2024, to commemorate the milestone groundbreaking of the Funan Techo Canal project.
- This holiday will be a paid holiday, for which the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training (MLVT) will issue an instruction to inform all factories, enterprises and establishments covered by Cambodia’s Labour Law and all other regulations in force.
- The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports will issue an instruction to inform public and private educational institutions about this holiday as well.
All institutions, ministries, and municipal/provincial administrations are expected to comply with this instruction.
Details On The Funan Techo Canal Groundbreaking Ceremony
The Kandal Provincial Administration has closed part of its heavy truck traffic section of National Road No. 1 to organise the groundbreaking ceremony, which will be presided over by Prime Minister Hun Manet and First Lady Pech Chanmony.
More than 90 national and international journalists have registered with the Ministry of Information to cover the inauguration ceremony, which, since being announced in 2023 by former Prime Minister Hun Sen, has received regional and global media coverage.
The launch will also be broadcast live on the National Television of Cambodia and many other local television channels, as well as through several social media platforms, including the official Facebook pages of Prime Minister Hun Manet and former Prime Minister Hun Sen.