PHNOM PENH, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The Cambodian PPSHV Expressway and the Cambodia Bus Association on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for access to the Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway.
The MoU was inked in Phnom Penh between PPSHV Expressway's executive director Mo Kun and Cambodia Bus Association's President Chhim Chamnan, with the presence of Minister of Public Works and Transport Sun Chanthol.
Speaking at the ceremony, Chanthol said under the deal, the Cambodia Bus Association members would use the 187-km expressway for traveling between the capital Phnom Penh and the international deep-water seaport Sihanoukville with a discount.
"I hope that in the future, the trucking association and oil trucking companies will also negotiate with the Cambodian PPSHV Expressway Co., Ltd to use the expressway," the minister said.
He said that traveling on the expressway would save both time and money.
The Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway is the first-ever freeway in the Southeast Asian nation. Invested by the Cambodian PPSHV Expressway, a subsidiary of China Road and Bridge Corporation, the 2-billion-U.S.-dollar expressway has been opened to the public since Oct. 1, 2022.
Almost 1.9 million vehicles had traveled on the expressway in the first five months of its operation, the Ministry of Public Works and Transport said.
With two lanes for traffic in each direction plus an emergency lane on each side and paved with asphalt concrete, vehicles will be able to reach their destinations within two hours through the expressway instead of five hours on National Road 4. ■