Could you introduce us briefly the Port
of Sihanoukville and its main activities
since it started operations in 1960?
Our port facility began operations in 1960
and the cargo that flowed through here grew
well until we reached in 1967 a cargo handling
of nearly one million tons. At that time
it was decided to build another phase. The
first phase had only one jetty and two warehouses.
Due to the cargo increase there were three
hundred meters of jetty added plus three
warehouses. Between 1970 and 1975 there
was a war and then in 1975, the Khmer Rouge
regime came. We do not have much information
about that period, but there was few activity
in our port. In 1979 our port started operations
again. In the beginning it was hard as we
were lacking both heavy equipment to handle
the cargo and lack of experienced labor
force. Only three or four workers of the
port survived the Khmer regime, all the
management staff was killed by the Khmer
Rouge. We got assistance from the Soviet
Union and Vietnam, and in 1988 those Russian
and Vietnamese advisors left and we started
working for ourselves. Until 1992 the level
of cargo was very low. Only in 1993 the
volume began to increase as a result of
the new elections. Year by year we kept
growing and in 1999 we reached a volume
above the one million tons. Since then it
has been stable showing a slight decrease
in 2002. But the current statistics are
very encouraging; in the first three months
of this year 2003 the volume increased 28
percent compared with same time in 2002.
Could you give us the main figures of
the Port in terms of infrastructure?
The first phase began in 1956 building
a jetty of 289 meters long plus two warehouses.
This phase was finished in 1960 and then
we started operations. In 1966 a second
phase of extension of the port started adding
350 meter of jetty plus 3 new warehouses
and now we are proceeding to a third extension
with a container BASE? of 240 meters and
6.5 hectares for a container terminal. This
phase started on April 2002 and the new
terminal will be finished in 2004. The total
amount of workers in the port is 1064 people.
H.E. Cham Prasidh has announced last
December his intention to declare an "Open
Sea Policy". What are the main expectations
for the port out of this Government policy?
I think that this is a good policy of our
Government. The port of Sihanoukville cannot
monopolize the cargo system. Now is time
for cooperation and competition. The users
must decide what is the best for them. This
will make us try to upgrade our service
quality and try to offer lower services
fees to remain attractive.
What are then your forecasts in terms
of tonnage?
The port is changing its policy and that
makes us hope that the port will attract
more volume of cargo. As I mentioned at
the beginning, during the first three months
of 2003 there has been an increase of 24
percent compared to last year. We are doing
everything possible to upgrade our service
and give to the customer the value of the
port fees they are paying.
So far, what have you been doing in
order to get prepared to this new policy
which will add competition to your port?
Our policy in the future will be to offer
to the port user a complete transparent
fee system. We are going for a flat rate
no matter the time or the day of the year,
nighttime, daytime, 24/7 365 days a year.
This way, the user will know how much time
it takes him to stay in the port and how
much it will cost him. With this policy
we will make the port user feel confident
about doing business with us.
Another aspect that can bring you a
higher volume of cargo is the future creation
of the "Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Growth
Corridor". What are your expectations
in terms of business for the port?
The "Growth Corridor" between
Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville is a very good
idea. The studies for this project look
very promising, Next to that, we also have,
behind the port, 100 hectares of land we
want to use as a Free Zone Area. This land
belongs to the port and we are considering
not to charge a rental fee, perhaps to leave
it to private investors to develop it. Those
two projects can create a substantial amount
of jobs for our people and plenty of business
for the port. We are quite pleased with
this policy which we call a win-win situation;
Cambodians will obtain more jobs, investors
will have more places to chose to install
themselves and the port will have more business.
Once more the port seems to have the
opportunity to develop another activity
for the port, namely the tourism. In their
efforts to attract more tourists to the
country, the Royal Government is trying
to attract the Cruise tourism to Cambodia.
What measures is the port taking to receive
this kind of vessels?
Last year we had three or four cruise ships
calling in, the tourism agencies had to
prepare for months the arrival of a cruise
ship to our port. Presently the situation
has changed, only last month we had three
cruise ships for which there was no preparation.
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By facilitating their arrival, we try
to attract cruise ships to our port. In
terms of infrastructure, we are planning
to build a passenger terminal. Currently
we use the old jetty for passengers, but
in the future, once the container terminal
is built, we can transform the old one into
a passenger terminal.
In order to achieve all those projects
you want to develop, are you looking for
investors or partners of any kind?
For the Free Zone or Export Processing
Zone, we need private participation, also
for some aspects of the port expansion.
The port cannot support those heavy investments
all alone so indeed for some operations
in the port we are in the look for some
kind of partnership. We need to study carefully
all possibilities.
With all those growth prospects and
projects to be build, how do you see the
evolution of the port in the next few years?
We try day by day to upgrade our service.
We want to make our clients feel confident
with us. We try to keep costs down and quality
of service high. By keeping this policy,
the port can only develop in the good direction.
We have a few objectives; one of them is
an increase of the container terminal by
160 meters more. We also want to develop
the Free Zone Area with a pilot project
to attract more investors. If these project
is successful, we will develop the land
behind the port which will be a good backup
for the port. Another objective is to build
the passenger terminal.
But above all, we understand the importance
of quality service, compared with the other
facilities elsewhere in the region, Sihanoukville
is still very low. We need to upgrade our
service to compete. We want to be members
of the ASEAN Port Association. We study
from them how to integrate ourselves with
them and that is the priority.
As only deep-sea water port in Cambodia,
you can say that your port is the main gate
for the world to Cambodia and Cambodia to
the world. What can you tell us about the
evolution of the Cambodian economy from
your position as General Director of the
port?
In 1993 we started to deal with containers,
before it was only general cargo handling.
Two years back we couldn't handle containers
above the 22 tons, now we get up to 64 tons.
We are upgrading our facilities to support
the economic growth of our country. Indeed
we are the door to get in or out of the
country. We understand that this is our
obligation. Our performance reflects the
evolution of the economy of the country.
We have requested to become member of the
ASEAN Port Association so that we can standardize
our level of service.
What are the main products being exported
and imported?
Garment industry is the largest sector
for import and export. The most imported
materials through our port are mainly cement,
steel, machinery, fertilizer, sugar, bitumen
Can you tell us about your career path
and what has been your greatest satisfaction
while working as General Director of the
port of Sihanoukville?
I graduated in Ukraine, at that time still
part of the Soviet Union. I was an engineer
of port construction and water ways. I stayed
there six years. In 1986 I came to work
here as a port engineer. In 1989 I became
the deputy director and from 1992 on I have
been the Director of the Port. I am very
happy to work here. We are lucky to have
such good workers. It gives ma quite a satisfaction
to work at the port due to the important
role it plays in supporting the economic
growth of the country. I hope the Growth
Corridor and the Free Zone Areas become
soon a reality and we create more jobs for
Cambodian people and at the same time provide
the right climate for investors to come
here.
What would be then your final message
to those potential investors that are looking
to Cambodia as an investment destination?
Some people think Cambodia is not a stable
country. I think otherwise. The Cambodian
people understand that we must integrate
to the world. We study English to try to
make that possible. We want people to have
confidence that they will have peace in
our country, Cambodians are good workers
and the labor force is quite cheap. What
concerns the port, we are trying to assist
any investor in order to facilitate them
to come here, especially the Fee Zones will
give them the chance to save on transport,
documentation, etc
And finally keep in mind that Cambodia
is a Buddhist country offering a peaceful
environment.
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