What kind of rapid development is in store for Phnom Penh, Cambodia? As one of “Asia’s economic tigers,” infrastructure development has long been a key driver supporting Cambodia’s economic growth, so it is worth looking closely at Cambodia’s development plans ahead. By sea, land or air, Cambodia occupies a core position within ASEAN, and as it joins China’s Belt and Road Initiative and looks ahead to a future pan-Asian high-speed rail network connecting to Phnom Penh, the country is also building a new international airport.
Because the current Phnom Penh International Airport has limited passenger capacity, and to meet growing visitor numbers, the first project worth mentioning is Phnom Penh’s new airport, named Techo Takhmau International Airport. Built by a Chinese company, it is a Category 4F airport, meaning that once complete it will be able to handle the world’s largest civil aircraft, including the Airbus A380 and Boeing 747. It will be about six times the size of the current Phnom Penh International Airport, covering 2,600 hectares — roughly equivalent to two Hong Kong International Airports (12.55 square kilometres). At the time of writing, construction was 27% complete, with completion expected as early as 2023, and a connecting road to Hun Sen Boulevard already under construction. This means that once the new Phnom Penh airport opens, it will not only drive residential and commercial development in the surrounding area but also boost activity along Hun Sen Boulevard, the road that leads to it. It should also help expand air-transport capacity, allow the airport to handle more passengers, and support new momentum for Phnom Penh’s development.
Phnom Penh residents today rely mainly on cars and electric scooters, and traffic during peak hours is severely congested. Under Phnom Penh’s new transport plan, an elevated light rail and metro line is being studied, running from Phnom Penh’s Central Market to the Choeung Ek area — around 19 kilometres in total, with 15 kilometres elevated and 4 kilometres underground. It would run along Charles de Gaulle Boulevard, Monivong Boulevard and Russian Boulevard, with 20 stations in total: 18 light-rail stations and 2 metro stations. This is intended to open up the city centre’s transport arteries, driving foot traffic, employment and commercial activity, accelerating the economy, and affecting property values in the surrounding districts.
Aeon, one of the world’s Fortune 500 leaders and one of the largest retail groups in Japan and Asia, saw the consumer potential of Phnom Penh’s growing, youthful population and opened Aeon Mall 1 (68,000 square metres) on 30 June 2014 in Phnom Penh’s most central district — an area where business activity is concentrated, embassies cluster, and both foreign residents and tourists must pass through. Business performance kept rising, and Aeon Mall 2 (100,000 square metres) followed in the Sen Sok area at the end of May 2018. Results were so strong that Aeon Mall 3 (Aeon Mall Mean Chey, with about 98,000 square metres of gross leasable area — larger than Aeon Mall 1 and 2 combined) had a preliminary opening on 15 December 2022 and its grand opening on 7 April 2023, in the up-and-coming Mean Chey area, connecting Hun Sen Boulevard to BKK1 and the new airport.
In 2023, Cambodia also hosted another major event: the 32nd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, held in Phnom Penh from 5 to 17 May 2023 — one of the largest events in Cambodia’s history. Construction of the Cambodia National Stadium (over 80,000 square metres) is 80% complete at the time of writing. Some may ask whether hosting such an event really matters — the answer is yes, and significantly so.
When Malaysia hosted the SEA Games in 2017, GDP growth that year and the following year came in at 5.9% and 4.72% respectively. Since Beijing hosted the Olympics in 2008, cumulative housing-price growth in Beijing by 2016 was estimated at around 70%. Athens saw similarly sharp housing-price growth of about 65% in the seven years before it hosted the Games (1995–2002). And after the IOC announced in 2013 that Tokyo would host the 2020 Olympics, Japan’s long-depressed property market — flat for some 20 years — turned a corner: Tokyo housing prices began rising the following year, from an average of about ¥400,000 per square metre in 2013 to ¥562,900 per square metre by 2019, a 40% increase.
By the time the Games are held, the world’s attention will turn to Phnom Penh — whether for the event itself, for tourism, or for investment — and the coming golden decade is expected to be a defining period for the rise of Cambodia’s capital.
At the time of writing, more than 500 brands had already opened outlets in Phnom Penh, including recent arrivals such as 7-Eleven and Pizza Hut. Phnom Penh has been developing so quickly that a Google Maps street-view search may not match what is actually on the ground even six months to a year later — Google Maps does not always update in time, so visiting in person remains the most reliable way to see the real picture.
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