Battambang shopping mall nearly complete

via CAAI News Media

Thursday, 22 April 2010 15:00 Soeun Say

BATTAMBANG’s first shopping mall is set to open its doors by the end of the year, after a Cambodian investor put US$10 million towards setting up the retail centre.

President of the Federation of Cambodian Rice Millers Associations Phou Puy is owner of the still-incomplete 1,500-store Battambang Shopping Mall, which is being built in the provincial capital.

“Construction is about 90 percent complete. We’re doing the interior design and will open in the end of the year,” Phou Puy said Wednesday.

The retail space is set to include elevators and be air-conditioned, Phou Puy explained. He added: “We don’t have anybody to compete with us. It is the first shopping mall in Battambang town.”

The four-storey complex is being built along National Road 5 in O’char commune. Shops are set to be put on sale for up to $5,000 per unit, with payment at $50 per month.

“This is our strategy to attract clients to buy space at our mall,” said Phou Puy, who is also President of Battambang Chamber of Commerce and Director of Cambodia’s biggest paddy buyer, Baitang Kampuchea Plc.

Sung Bonna, President and Chief Executive Officer of Bonna Reatly Group and President of the National Valuers Association of Cambodia, said Wednesday that he expects the new mall to be able to attract buyers. “The main points needed to attract clients are good management and decoration,” he said.

Lao Tip Seiha, director of the Construction Department of the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction, said that the ministry approved a licence for the mall in 2008.

“We will be proud to have the first shopping mall in Battambang city,” he said. The government hopes that the shopping mall will both create jobs and boost the local economy.