IF you want to get rich, build a road first. This principle has guided China’s development since its reform, and under the Belt and Road Initiative, this model has now found its way to Sihanoukville in Cambodia..

With Chinese funding, the Cambodian government has stepped up infrastructure construction in the past 2 years. Sihanoukville now has 34 asphalt roads, with a highway to the capital of Phnom Penh slated to open in July – Cambodia’s first highway, which will cut travel time between both cities from 6 hours to just 2.5 hours.

Sihanoukville is also expanding its airport and deep-water port, as well as underground drainage. A power plant backed by Chinese state-owned generator China Huadian Corporation is being built too.