The case of the Sihanoukville Autonomous Port: Recommendation Paper

EuroCham Cambodia and its Transport & Logistics Committee are actively supporting the Royal Government in its ambitions to grow Cambodia’s transport and logistics sector.

Following the 1st Cambodia-Europe Public-Private Sector Dialogue and a courtesy call with Prime Minister Hun Manet in September 2024, EuroCham Cambodia submitted recommendations to relevant authorities focusing on cross-border procedures, customs, and express logistics infrastructure, particularly at the Techo International Airport due to be opened in September 2025.

This initiative has seen significant success, with nearly 50% of identified red tape and administrative processes being addressed through collaborative efforts between our committee leadership and the Royal Government.

Recognising the crucial role of the Sihanoukville Autonomous Port (PAS) in realising the Prime Minister’s vision of transforming Cambodia into a regional logistics hub, the PAS aims to enhance its competitiveness and efficiency in processing fast-growing export volumes from the Kingdom.

Given recent trade uncertainties and strong competition between regional manufacturing hubs, more efficient, faster, and cheaper logistics operations contribute greatly to the attractiveness of the Cambodian economy to investors.

While the logistics industry strongly supports the long-term vision for the Sihanoukville port as presented during a meeting with H.E. Sun Chanthol and H.E. Lou Kim Chhun, Delegate of the Royal Government of Cambodia in Charge as Chairman & CEO of Sihanoukville Autonomous Port on May 1, 2025, urgent short-term improvements covering the next two years are necessary due to the growing challenges. To this end, we have identified five key areas where we believe the PAS can achieve significant improvements.

I/ EDI Connectivity

1.Truck EDI

Current situation:
The Port’s truck Gate-In and Gate-Out systems are currently manual and rely on paperwork. This is hindering overall efficiency and, with the growing number of operations, is leading to long queues and a lack of visibility.

Recommendations:

Implement EDI/API link between port system and trucking companies for advance truck appointments.
Share gate-in/out data in real-time with shipping lines and customers.

2. Maritime EDI

Current Situation:
Container ship stowage plan EDI connectivity (Baplie file) is crucial to avoid human error and faster container stowage data from last port call and next port call for smooth operation and data control. Currently, it seems that Sihanoukville container terminal cannot provide EDI (Baplie file) to the ship owner/master or agent and instead the terminal only provides Final Container Loading List in excel file and General plan in PDF file which requires significant manual work for the ship owner/master or agent. This is time consuming, reduces productivity and can cause mistakes in data entry and for the next port call operation team.

Recommendations:

Cargo Manifest Submission & Customs
- Integrate manifest submission directly with Customs via EDI.
- Allow for corrections and updates through an online portal.
- Enable auto-flagging of risk-based containers for inspection.

Vessel Planning & Bayplan Exchange
- Use BAPLIE (EDI 715) format for electronic bayplan submission pre- and post-vessel operation.
- Synchronise with terminal operating system (TOS) for optimised stowage and crane planning.
- Automate sharing of final load/discharge list with lines post-departure.

II/ Road Accessibility

Current situation:
The simultaneous influx of a large number of trucks at Sihanoukville port clogs the entrance, leading to considerable time loss for drivers and negatively impact productivity and traffic flow.

Recommendations:

Consider implementing a Booking System for Truck Slots: Explore existing best practices at international ports for online truck appointment systems where carriers pre-book delivery/pick-up windows. This can help reduce gate and road congestion, improve yard planning, and minimise idle time for trucks.
Standardise Vessel Cut-Offs to 24 Hours Before Arrival (Excluding Saturdays): Align cut-off windows to be 24 hours before live vessel ETA, allowing exporters maximum flexibility while maintaining operational discipline. Avoid Saturday cut-offs to prevent disruption due to limited weekend staffing.
Digital Pre-Clearance & Customs Coordination: Fully apply and further expand electronic documentation, customs pre-clearance, and risk-based scanning/assessment to speed up gate entry and avoid delays due to paperwork or manual inspections.

III/ Rail Accessibility

Current situation:
A trucking fee is imposed by the PAS for transport of containers between the railway terminal and the container yard (CY). Why? This intermediary step incurs additional costs and raises concerns about its necessity and impact on overall efficiency, in particular as the railway infrastructure is situated in close proximity to the CY. The imposition of this supplementary trucking fee appears to contribute no discernible value to the logistical process and, critically, undermines the cost-competitiveness of railway transport as a viable alternative.

Recommendations:
We would appreciate it if the PAS could explain why this process is necessary. A more streamlined and integrated approach, leveraging existing infrastructure and readily available equipment, could significantly enhance the efficiency and economic attractiveness of railway freight. We suggest to employ a reach stacker to directly transfer cargo, especially considering that a Lift-on/Lift-off (LoLo) charge is already applicable. A reduction of this extra charge/cost will help reduce logistic cost and improve speed.

IV/ Volume balance over the week

Current situation:
The Garments, Footwear and Travel Goods (GFT) sector as well as the Home Appliances sector in Cambodia are designed to make factories produce during weekdays and load-laden containers on vessels departing on weekends. This leads to many containers being sent to PAS on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturday mornings. This also leads to overall traffic congestion during those days on roads leading out of the main manufacturing areas, national roads, and the SHV Highway.

Source: Cambodia Global Textile Summit 2025; Shaping the future: competitiveness and sustainability; presentation made by Mr Robin Dreke, MSC.

Recommendations:

We suggest organising a round-table discussion with industry players like TAFTAC, GDCE, MPWT, Logistics Operators and Port Authorities to work on a roadmap toward better weekly distribution of container volumes to address multiple issues.
An immediate first action is to request customs officials to work on a 24/7 basis.

Another good step is to allow Flexible Cut-Off times based on live Vessel ETA’s. This will ensure containers are only being shipped to the port when there is an actual ship expected.

V/ Berth Optimisation

Current situation:
The PAS currently has 8 berths; an additional one is expected to be developed in the near future. To maximise the benefits from the existing berths, especially in the short term, the PAS can consider to implement the below recommendations:.

Recommendations:

Extra container berth: convert the current multi-purpose berth into a container berth. Terminal specialists within EuroCham’s membership indicate that the process of procuring extra quay cranes may take up to two years. As such, this consideration should be given highest priority.
Continue to optimise current berths: add an extra mobile harbour crane at berth number 6 next to the two gantry cranes. This will ensure berth number 7 can work with three gantry cranes and berth number 8 will have two gantry cranes.
Speedily complete dredging activities for berth numbers 7 and 8 to allow vessels to accept more tonnage – desired draft is 10.3m. With such increased draft, vessels will be able to accept more than 20% more cargo.