Although the two-lane National Road 5 that runs from the capital to the border in Poipet, Banteay Meanchey province is being upgraded to a four-lane road, the minister conceded in what appeared to be support for the expressway that travel times will still be relatively long and that animals are not significantly prevented from crossing at every point.
He emphasized the usefulness of expressways as connectors between “economic poles,” or regions of concentrated economic activity, and said that they have and will continue to significantly support growth in the Cambodian economy.
Phnom Penh, the Preah Sihanouk and Siem Reap provinces, as well as the northeastern and northwest regions, have all been explicitly identified as “economic poles” or have been suggested as such.
