The release of the five-year plan for Xigang: Enterprise opportunities under the core blueprint of the second city
On September 14, 2026, the Cambodian Ministry of Tourism and the Sihanouk Provincial Government jointly released the "Sihanouk Provincial Tourism Development Plan (2026-2030)" at the Phnom Penh Independence Hotel, which clearly positions Sihanouk as the core of Cambodia's second city and a world-class leisure and business tourism destination with regional and international competitiveness.
In recent years, Xigang has been labeled negatively by the outside world due to social security issues such as telecommunications fraud, and the city's image and business environment have been questioned. With the Cambodian government's continuous efforts to crack down on telephone fraud and improve public security, coupled with the continuous improvement of urban infrastructure, the image of Xigang city is returning to the right track, and the pace of industrial development is significantly accelerating. The introduction of the five-year plan is seen as a crucial step in the systematic "de labeling" and repositioning of Xigang.
According to the plan, Xigang will be developed into five core positions in the next five years: the core of Cambodia's second city; A world-class leisure and business tourism destination with regional and international competitiveness; Smart City Innovation Center; Benchmark for sustainable urbanization development; Regional economic development engine. Minister of Tourism Hua Ha emphasized at the launch ceremony that in the next five years, the focus should be on strengthening tourist safety and keeping up with the era of digital technology and artificial intelligence. Sihanouk Governor Monsina called on all parties to continuously develop new tourism products, improve service quality, enhance tourism attractiveness, and improve urban environmental sanitation.
Supporting measures have been implemented simultaneously, including the crackdown on electronic fraud, public security rectification, special investment promotion plans, and the construction of coastal pedestrian streets, forming a combination of measures for this round of transformation. In terms of infrastructure, the Phnom Penh Sihanoukville Expressway, Sihanouk Deep Water Port, Sihanoukville International Airport, and Yunrang National Park together form the foundation to support the transformation and development. The bottlenecks of logistics, people flow, and information flow have been gradually overcome, and Xigang is evolving from a small border port to a regional hub city.
Sihanouk Port Special Economic Zone, as one of the most important industrial carriers of West Port, has developed from mudflat to one of the most influential economic and trade cooperation zones in Cambodia after more than a decade of deep cultivation. The number of enterprises settled in Sihanouk Port Special Economic Zone has grown from a few in the first batch to hundreds, covering rubber tires, new energy, wood products, machinery and other industries, driving tens of thousands of local employment, and becoming a landmark special economic zone for China Cambodia production capacity cooperation. Since 2015, Wisdom Power Cambodia has settled in Xigang Special Economic Zone, which is the first group of power service providers to enter the park. Self built plants and office buildings have been built in Xigang Special Economic Zone and Koh Kong Special Economic Zone respectively, forming a dual base operation pattern. The company holds dual certificates of EAC and EDC in Cambodia, covering the entire chain of power equipment production, sales, installation, and operation and maintenance. Over the past decade, it has provided power supporting services to thousands of overseas factories in the special zone and surrounding areas.
The transition of power infrastructure is an important aspect for observing the growth of special zones. Cambodia is located at a low latitude and experiences frequent thunderstorms throughout the year, making direct lightning strikes almost the norm for the power grid. In the early days of entering the park, the special zone experienced more than 100 power outages per year, frequent interruptions in production lines, and severe losses for enterprises. For more than ten years, Wisdom Power, together with the Special Economic Zone and enterprises, has supplemented the weak points one by one from lightning protection and grounding transformation, line patrol inspection, rapid fault location and repair, backup power supply guarantee and other links. Nowadays, the number of power outages in the special economic zone has decreased to around 20 times a year, making it one of the areas with the fewest power outages among major economic zones in Cambodia.
From the "City of Electric Fraud" to the core of the second city, from a small port on the border to a regional economic engine, the transformation of Xigang is not just a piece of planning, but also a city renewal that involves the participation of the government, enterprises, and local residents. Against the backdrop of the government's continuous improvement of the business environment, promotion of infrastructure upgrades, and introduction of special investment promotion plans, the tourism industry will drive the comprehensive upgrading of urban services, the manufacturing industry and park economy will attract more high-quality overseas enterprises, and digital technology and green energy will shape a new generation of Xigang. As a service-oriented manufacturing enterprise rooted in the special zone, Wisdom Power said that it would continue to grow with this city. In the next decade, the rise of this star in the southwest is worth looking forward to.
