PHNOM PENH, March 14 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia on Wednesday inaugurated its first own-built concrete bridge across a Mekong River tributary in southeastern Kampong Cham province.
Speaking during the inauguration ceremony, Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said the Koh Pen Bridge, which is 9.2 meters wide and 779 meters long, was built by the Defense Ministry's Engineering Unit at the cost of 13 million U.S. dollars.
The construction took five years to be completed.
"This is the first river bridge that Cambodia has constructed, and we will build more large bridges in the future," he said. "I'd like to publicly announce that from now on, Cambodia is capable of building bridges by ourselves across all rivers in the kingdom."
The prime minister said the Koh Pen Bridge connects the rural part to the urban part of the province, and it would provide great benefit to the Cambodian people, especially for those living on both sides of the river.
Cambodia has many bridges across the Mekong River and its tributaries, but those have been built by foreign companies.
