Cambodian Economy: Charting the Course of a Brighter Future - A Survey of Progress, Problems and Prospects

15. Transport Infrastructure

313 Chapter 15 Transport Infrastructure The RGC has made considerable progress during the last 15 years in rehabilitating Cambodia’s core transport infrastructure which was practically destroyed during the civil strife. The ability to transport merchandise over long distances at a reasonable cost is indispensable for export competitiveness . Public investment in infrastructure has significant externalities and a high social return. However depending only on the private sector to fund infrastructure investments is not an effective approach and will result in under investment in transport development. Private sector is guided by private returns which may not be attractive in transport sector compared with alternatives. Besides, indivisibilities in infrastructure necessitate large scale investments which private sector may be unable or unwilling to mobilize However, it is possible for the government to increase the volume and efficiency of investments in basic services through recourse to the private sector, privatization, or subcontracting. Besides, in the provision of public services such as transportation and electricity, the State must exercise the role of a regulator to ensure that consumers are protected. The following summarizes the key elements of infrastructure in Cambodia and their shortcomings: • The Sihanoukville port, characterized by high cost of services. • A road network, perceived as excessively costly to use (especially unofficial costs). • A railway system, dilapidated and poorly performing. • Electricity, but at a prohibitive cost. Since 1992, the Cambodian government launched a program of transport development, which envisaged investments to restore, and to a lesser extent, expand the infrastructure capacity, focusing on the following main objectives: 314 • Reduction of transport costs. • Strengthening management of the sector. • Involvement of the private sector in carrying out construction and providing services in the sector. • Restructuring public transport agencies (such as Royal Cambodian Railways). The program made good headway in achieving many of these objectives but the objectives are far from having been completely achieved. In spite of major accomplishments in the road sector shortfalls are noted at the planning level, programming of actions, allocation and mobilization of sufficient financial resources, notably for road maintenance, management of construction quality, and reduction of the costs of road transport. These shortcomings are basically due to a lack of coordination—aggravated by the absence of a national vision—between the ministries involved, such as the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Ministry of Public Works and Transport, and the Ministry of Rural Development. The shortfalls in meeting the objectives may be attributed to the following key factors: • Lack of reliable data. For e.g. in the road subsector lack of reliable data is a source of many errors in the design or programming of work that does not always respond to the most pressing needs, whether for investing in new roads or road upgrading. • Needs are beyond the resources available for e.g. in the road fund. The government transportation strategy envisages the following objectives: • Improve maintenance of the existing road network. • Harmonious and coherent development of the network under a master plan. • Modernization of the land transport administration. The strategy includes: (i) measures of institutional reinforcement and modernization of structures to increase the efficiency of the sector, build capacity for planning, programming, designing, and managing the institutions; (ii) infrastructure maintenance and reconstruction investments, including the railway; (iii) strengthening the involvement of the private sector in sector management and investment; and (iv) finalization of the rural transportation strategy. 315 15.1. Present State of Roads in Cambodia Roads play a crucial economic and social role in Cambodia but they are seriously deficient. In the Cambodian transport system, the road subsector constitutes the most important link, being used for over 90% of personal travel and haulage of goods. Table 15.1 Road network length (as of 2006) Source: LRCS Inventory, 2006 and MRD Inventory2006 The road network in Cambodia is composed of arterial roads managed by the Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MPWT) and rural roads managed by the Ministry of Rural Development (MRD). The division of responsibilities in road management is shown in the table below. The national road network is shown in the figure below. Road Classification Length (rate) No. of Bridges (Length) Management Authority 1-digit national roads 2,097.280.km (5.31%) 589 (17,643m) MPWT 2-digit national roads 2,704.737km (6.85%) 698 (15,710m) Provincial roads 6,692.440km (16.95%) 904 (16,309m) Rural roads 28,000 km (70.89%) N/A MRD Total length 39,494.457 km...