(Kampot): The Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction has transformed the Land Social Development (LASED) project into a social and economic concession project. The Ministry initiated and selected the Trapaing Sangke community as a model community in urban planning by preparing to build infrastructure to support tourism and fishing services to be comfortable, beautiful, and in line with the strategy of the National Committee for the Management and Development of the Cambodian Coastal Zone, before moving on to preparing all coastal communities and other communities in Cambodia to improve the living standards of the people. As a result, after the start of this preparation, the Trapaing Sangke community has changed its face and attracted approximately one thousand tourists per week, which has helped improve the living standards of the people and the community to a great extent.

At an inter-ministerial meeting to discuss the impact of building infrastructure to support tourism and fishing services on the livelihood of the Trapaing Sangke community in Teuk Chhou district, Kampot province, attended by H.E. Huot Hak, Minister of Tourism, H.E. Chhay Rithsen, Minister of Rural Development, Mr. Sim Him, President of the Trapaing Sangke Fishing Community, and experts, as well as authorities from Kampot, Kep, and Preah Sihanouk provinces, as well as residents of the Trapaing Sangke community, on the morning of July 13, 2025. H.E. Deputy Prime Minister Say Sam Al, Minister of Land Management, Urban Planning, and Construction, stated that starting from a small initial project here, we have built infrastructure to support tourism and fishing services for the Trapaing Sangke community in Teuk Chhou district, including the construction of concrete roads, parking lots, and bathrooms. Currently, we see that this project is working well and can become a model for other communities.

With the success of the project for the Trapaing Sangke fishing community, HE the Deputy Prime Minister also requested cooperation from the Ministry of Rural Development, the Ministry of Tourism and the Governor of Kampot Province to prepare a project to build supporting infrastructure for many other communities in the province. Starting from this, HE the Deputy Prime Minister Say Samal intends to request the Ministry of Economy and Finance to modify the LASED project. Previously, this project only aimed at distributing land to landless Cambodians. However, now HE the Deputy Prime Minister is requesting a modification of part of the LASED project to invest in infrastructure such as roads, parking lots, bathrooms in communities and community headquarters. This means that we are not only focusing on distributing land, but also focusing on investing in infrastructure that communities are unable to do on their own. Therefore, this is a strategy for the state to invest in communities so that communities can live on their own, that is, to ensure that communities have jobs and income.

HE also emphasized that all we are doing is to improve the lives of people in the community, and the private debt of people in each community is also gradually reduced.