The Funan Techo Canal project is scheduled to break ground on August 05 this year, Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Manet, confirmed this morning. Addressing the inauguration ceremony for the official use of Kampot Multi-Purpose Port, Hun Manet called upon all to further support this project. “Don’t make any judgement on this project, it will officially break ground on August 05, 2024. Please further support it. This will be built for the benefit of the people as whole, so please support for our development”, he underlined. “This project will be a joint venture by the Sihanoukville Autonomous Port, Phnom Penh Autonomous Port, and a private company for 51 percent and the foreign investors under BOT contract”, he said. Before taking action on this project, Deputy Prime Minister and First Vice President of the Council for the Development of Cambodia Sun Chanthol said it had been thoroughly studied by a group of nearly 50 experts. The Funan Techo Canal project has very little impact, while the economic analysis and evaluation show that it will provide great benefits for the areas of trade, tourism, urban planning and construction etc. According to the project’s feasibility study worth the US$1.7 billion and Funan Techo Canal project is 180 kilometres long and 100 metres wide upstream and 80 metres downstream with two navigation lanes. The construction would take around four years to complete. The canal will link Prek Takeo of Mekong River to the sea in Kep province crossing four provinces: Kandal, Takeo, Kampot and Kep with a total of 1.6 million people living on either side of the waterway. AKP