Development plans for Koh Rong and nearby islands unchanged by marine park

Businesses expect the establishment of Cambodia’s first marine national park covering seven coastal islands to boost tourism in the area, while government officials said yesterday it would not affect private development scheduled for the islands.

A sub-decree signed by Prime Minister Hun Sen on Thursday designated 52,448 hectares of national park off Cambodia’s southern coast, but only 5,311 hectares of that area was land. The two most popular and developed islands on the list, Koh Rong and Koh Rong Samloem, have land masses of about 7,800 hectares and 2,450 hectares, respectively, and thus are not entirely covered by the designation.

Local conglomerate Royal Group, owned by Kith Meng, was granted a concession to develop Koh Rong and Koh Rong Samloem in 2008, and planned to spend $2 billion to turn large swaths of the island into a “luxury resort destination”, according to Bloomberg’s news service.http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/development-plans-koh-rong-and-nearby-islands-unchanged-marine-park