Premier Li Keqiang stressed during a recent talk with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen that the two sides should jointly promote the development of the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone. This overseas park, which was developed by Wuxi Hodo Group, has become a demonstration park of China’s Belt and Road initiative after more than 10 years of hard work.
For many Cambodians, working in the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone is a very proud thing. Every morning, motorcycles and cars carrying tens of thousands of workers flooded into Hun Sen Avenue and went to work in the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone. The villagers who used to farm and raise cattle for a living have become industrial workers in the new era.
The Sino-Cambodian Friendship Institute of Science and Technology, located in the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone, has been offering studies in accounting, tourism, auto repair, and computer. After more than half a year of operation, it has recruited more than 700 students who are dreaming of working for the zone upon graduation.
For more than 10 years, the pioneers from Jiangsu have developed the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone, once a hilly and barren land devoid of water, electricity, and road, into a model park for the Belt and Road initiative.
In 2018, the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone registered 35 new enterprises, introduced 153 enterprises from China, Europe, America, Southeast Asia and other countries and regions, including 139 industrial enterprises. It contributed 50% to the total industrial output value of Sihanoukville province.
Relying on the development of the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone, more than 22,000 local employees have embarked on the fast lane to get rid of poverty. In 2018, Sihanoukville’s annual per capita income was $3,358, which was among the best in Cambodia. The flower of China-Cambodia friendship on the Belt and Road initiative is blooming in this hot land.
(Source:ourjiangsu.com)
