PROPERTY developer Hong Lai Huat Group will design, build and operate a mixed-use agricultural hub in Cambodia, with a total land size of about 10,000 hectares, estimated to be about one-seventh the size of Singapore.

The mainboard-listed group has received official approval from the Cambodian government to convert its existing agricultural land in Aoral District, Kampong Speu Province, into a mixed-use development.

Hong Lai Huat, which expects the development to add new revenue sources for the group, said the hub will set out the roadmap for the future growth of its real-estate division in the country.

It also hopes to attract more foreign direct investments into Cambodia and create jobs for locals, said group general manager and executive director Ong Jia Jing. "This investment will fuel the long-term growth of the group for many years to come," he added.

The hub will be developed in phases, with the first to begin in Q4 2021, the real estate firm said in a filing on Wednesday night. Under the first phase, it will start the infrastructure upgrading works, such as the internal road networks, electrical cables and water supply.

The development is expected to include zones for value-added food-processing factories, warehousing facilities and a logistics hub, renewable energy, livestock farms, construction materials, plantations, aquaponics, water treatment treatments, as well as commercial and community-living concepts.

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Hong Lai Huat will progressively launch each zone to the market. This will be based on the conclusion of strategic collaborations with new partners looking to set up their bases within the agricultural hub.

Thus far, three companies have registered their interest, with a total potential investment value of up to US$225 million. Hong Lai Huat said it is in talks with other key players in the region.

Located about 100 km from Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh, the land is 130 m above sea level and surrounded by industrial projects and other farms, the company said. The land is currently used for Hong Lai Huat's agriculture division, which focuses on fresh cassava plantation and starch processing for the local and export markets.

The company said it aims to hold an official launch event, if permitted and depending on the Covid-19 situation in Cambodia and Singapore, for the upcoming agricultural hub sometime in late 2021.

Earlier this month, the group announced that it would sell its Singapore farm resort business for S$4.8 million, so as to "completely focus on its business in Cambodia".

Its shares rose 2.1 per cent or 0.2 Singapore cent to close at 9.7 cents on Wednesday, before the latest announcement.