Hun Manet, the prime minister of Cambodia, inaugurated a contentious $1.7 billion canal project on Monday with the goal of creating a new route from the Mekong River to the ocean.
Manet pledged to “finish it at all costs” and referred to the 180-kilometer (110-mile) project as “historic”.
“We must build this canal at all costs,” Manet said at the project’s launch ceremony before fireworks shot into the air and drums sounded after he pressed the launch button for the project.
The Funan Techo canal will connect the Gulf of Thailand to the sea, approximately one hour’s drive southeast of Phnom Penh, via the Mekong River.
According to the government, the canal will generate economic activity valued at 21–30 percent more than its cost, providing an alternative to transit via Vietnam and reducing reliance on Vietnamese ports.
Though it hasn’t shown specific proof, it would generate tens of thousands of employment in the nation, which is among the poorest in Southeast Asia.
