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Photo: Rosewood Phnom Penh
It was a sweltering Monday when I arrived in Phnom Penh in March this year with whispers of human trafficking cases on my mind. I had been invited to the Cambodian city by Rosewood Phnom Penh to welcome its new bar team led by manager Hong Konger Lam Ka Tsun at rooftop bar Sora — a snazzy indoor and alfresco bar on the 37th floor that cantilevers over the dusty horizon.
A bird’s eye view of Vattanac Capital Tower. (Photo: Rosewood Phnom Penh)
Till 2022, Vattanac Capital Tower held the title of the tallest building until the completion of The Peak Shangri-La at 236m, which was promptly dethroned the following year by Morgan Enmaison 2 at 243.8m. Thanks to a boom in the real estate industry, Phnom Penh now has a total of 93 skyscrapers that have sprouted up in the last six years in a race to the top.
The economic capital of Cambodia
Photo: 123rf.com
The Phnom Penh I visited 12 years ago was vastly different. There was not a skyscraper in sight; the streets were jammed with scooters and tuk-tuks (there are a lot more car owners now), and the largest building was NagaWorld, an integrated casino and resort that surprisingly still stands today. Most tourists, like me, came for the historical sites such as Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and Wat Phnom temple.
Today, the capital looks more like the economic hub it’s meant to be. The Central Business District, where Rosewood is located, sports coiffed hedges, newly paved pedestrian walkways (and a park!), luxury high fashion stores peeking out of their air-conditioned sanctuaries, and wide roads named after Russian or Chinese leaders.
Traditional weaving on the loom. (Photo: 123rf.com)
It’s no secret that the Cambodian government has always relied on foreign investment, particularly from China. Even before the 2024 Cambodia-China People-to-People Exchange launch, which is meant to boost tourism, China invested over US$15 billion ($20.2 billion) in the country’s infrastructure and energy sector over five years from 2012.
Apart from building casino resorts for Chinese tourists to gamble (and dabble in money laundering), Phnom Penh’s Special Economic Zones (SEZ) have lured Chinese and international corporations. Due to low labour and manufacturing costs, hundreds of companies like Coca-Cola and Toyota have set up their factories here. Incentives such as corporate tax exemptions of up to nine years and exemptions from import duty on materials and equipment further help sweeten the deal.
A thriving nightlife
Phnom Penh is hungry — a hunger that one can only find in a developing nation torn apart by civil war and eager to get back on its feet after the Covid-19 global outbreak. The Cambodian government aims to convert a majority of its vehicles to electric by 2050, although it lacks sufficient charging stations and expertise. During lockdown, young entrepreneurs in the city created 24/7 delivery platforms such as Wownow and Nham24; you could get anything you needed at any time.
The Special Executive Room at Rosewood Phnom Penh. (Photo: Rosewood Phnom Penh)
As tourist numbers remain slow to pick up in Siem Reap, locals are relocating to Phnom Penh, where foreign interest has never waned. Accommodation options, ranging from the ultra-luxe to the mid-range, like the newly opened Capri by Fraser, have popped up in response, creating more opportunities.
After 25 years in the industry, the front desk clerk at Capri is one such example, having moved from Siem Reap in the past six months.
The dining hall at Capri by Fraser. (Photo: Capri by Fraser)
With the influx of foreign expatriates, the city hums with a vibrancy I’ve felt in larger cosmopolitan cities. Bassac Lane, an enclave of bars and restaurants hidden in a small grid of alleyways, is where you’ll find the pocket-sized cocktail bar, White Rabbit, and a 420-friendly bar. A tuk-tuk drive away are distilleries-by-day, bar-by-night hideouts such as Japanese-owned Mawsim (a gin bar) and South American-owned Samai works with Cambodia’s first rum master distiller, Moang Darachampich.
Master distiller, Ryuji Nukata, at craft gin distillery Mawsim. (Photo: Mawsim)
Returning to their roots
Cambodians who moved overseas to escape the civil unrest in the 1970s are also returning home, bringing bold ideas. Founder and managing director of Urban Living Solutions Kim “Leang” Kean leads the Urban Hub Project, which aims to create a sense of community through a mixed-use property. Within walking distance of high-rise apartments is the Factory Phnom Penh, a repurposed garment factory where the city’s first and only outdoor co-working, retail, and versatile space resides.
The outdoor hot desks at Factory Co-working Space. (Photo: Factory Co-working)
It’s a space buzzing with creativity; large-scale graffiti adorns the walls. At the entrance is Fulcrum Cafe, which serves Cambodian coffee blends. There’s Analog Bar, which doubles up as a music event space. There are two basketball courts, free-to-use bicycles, and a seven-year-old co-working space that holds workshops for its members, comprising students and start-ups. Aside from the occasional power and water outage, things seem to thrive.
FONKi, a Cambodian street artist born in Paris and raised in Montreal, opened the FT Gallery on the premises. Proudly Khmer, he traced his heritage in the 2014 documentary The Roots Remain and is largely responsible for the art throughout Factory Phnom Penh.
Along with Quentin Conessa, the gallery has organised street festivals and a graffiti competition in partnership with Tiger Beer and intends to create Southeast Asia’s first street art museum.
FT Gallery is also why some rebellious street art appears in Rosewood’s Art Gallery on the 35th storey amidst fine art pieces from Cambodian masters. It’s an unlikely meeting of two worlds as Phnom Penh tries to find its identity and, perhaps, is on the cusp of something new entirely.
