Phase I of the Angkor Landmark development project about 15km northeast of Siem Reap town is scheduled to officially break ground at end-2021, according to the developer’s CEO Tous Saphoeun.

The project is set to cover 217ha in Khnar Sanday commune of Siem Reap province’s Banteay Srey district in its first phase. A site measuring over 500ha is reserved for the project.

In its first phase, the project is planned to include housing, entertainment venues and floating markets, which will reportedly be managed in collaboration with Thai investment firms.

Saphoeun told The Post on September 8 that after receiving approval from the government, the developer got started right away on preliminary works, as outlined in the master plan.

“We are currently building infrastructure and model houses, and we will officially start building the luxury homes of the Angkor Landmark project by the end of 2021,” he said, adding that the first phase, of five, would take about two years to complete.

He stressed that the project would create new jobs for locals and provide some support for the national economy.

He also promised a “beautiful and attractive place for tourists to relax” and a “prominent development” in the province that would increase the Kingdom’s attractiveness as a holiday option.

The project comes amid a raft of government investment projects and initiatives designed to unlock the untapped tourism potential of Siem Reap province.

Last year, the government allocated about $150 million to build and revamp 38 roads in the province with a total length of 108.74 km. This massive infrastructure undertaking is scheduled to be completed by end-2021.

Noun Rithy, president and CEO of real estate investment agency Khmer Foundation Appraisals Co Ltd, told The Post that the overall development and progress of these road works, real estate projects and the under-construction airport bode well for the property market and economic growth in the province.

He underscored that well-built roads make travel easy, which influences demand for residential real estate and places to do business. “The real estate sector in Siem Reap will recover soon, especially after tourism revives,” he said.

The Ministry and Tourism and the private sector have been actively working together to plan and launch a number of precautionary pandemic-related safeguards and other mitigation measures to prepare for reopening the tourism industry.

Ministry spokesman Top Sopheak told The Post last week that the ministry “has been working hard on this arrangement, which may materialise by the end of this year, maybe November-December”.

Key Real Estate Co Ltd recently reported that Covid-19 had reduced transaction volumes in Siem Reap town, and brought down land prices to an average of $1,520 per sqm as of end-2020, down by about 5.0 per cent year-on-year from $1,600.