西港特区：打造中柬务实合作样板工程

李卉嫔

西港特区有限公司董事长陈坚刚：推动西港特区的高质量发展就是要打造特区2.0版本，提升园区的竞争力、配套服务能力、国际化程度，最终建成一个300家企业入驻，近10万产业工人就业的配套功能齐全的生态化样板园区，再造一个“中国深圳特区”。

Chen Jiangang， Chairman of the Company in SSEZ： To promote the highquality development of SSEZ is to create version 2.0 of the zone. It is necessary to enhance the park’s competitiveness， the supporting service capacity and the degree of internationalization， and emulate “Shenzhen special zone in China” to build the park into an ecologically-friendly sample park with complete supporting facilities for 300 enterprises and nearly workers.

在柬埔寨，首相洪森有一个特别的“儿子”，他曾在多个场合对其表示肯定和赞赏，这个“儿子”也深得中国领导人宠爱，习近平主席称赞其为“中柬务实合作的样板”，它就是西哈努克港经济特区（简称“西港特区”）。西港特区是柬埔寨政府批准的最大经济特区，也是首个签订双边政府协定、建立双边协调机制的合作区，是“一带一路”上的标志性项目。其距离柬埔寨西哈努克港12公里、西哈努克国际机场3公里，直飞江苏无锡仅需4小时。

走进西港特区，宽阔的马路、统一的建筑和绿化良好的道路，一切都显得规划有序、生气勃勃。在园区内工作的当地人也都衣着整洁，精神抖擞。谁也不曾想到，这里曾是一片贫瘠荒凉的土地，对于这里的原住民和特区建设者们来说，过去的场景还偶尔浮现脑海，与眼前的繁华喧闹形成了鲜明的对比。

最初，这里是一片荒芜之地。无路、无水、无电、无网，地势最大落差70米……

回憶往事，西港特区公司董事长陈坚刚记忆犹新，“连条像样的马路都没有，一到晚上漆黑一片，想去哪里都不行”。

2008年2月，柬埔寨西哈努克港经济特区奠基，首相洪森率90多名部长级高官参加了奠基仪式。

2013年，经过西港特区建设者们的“拓荒”，这块荒地有了一点起色：完成了部分基础建设，厂房、道路陆续投用。当时，特区入驻企业只有50多家，就业人数不到9000人。“2013年习近平主席提出‘一带一路’倡议后，我们深受鼓舞，西港特区的发展也进入快车道，入区企业的数量开始明显增加。”陈坚刚说。

如今，园区内厂房、高楼林立，一部分商业、居住、教育、医疗等配套设施也陆续投用，西港特区已经成长为一位“翩翩美公子”，这个具有国际化资本吸引力、发展潜力巨大的跨国工业园区，成为了中柬国家领导人、中外媒体眼中的“红人”。

十年前的西港特区建设者们没想到，在这片杂草丛生、沟壑纵横的荒地上，屹立起如今的有161家企业入驻、容纳29000个岗位、对西哈努克省经济贡献超过50%的跨国合作园区。十年前西港特区所在地的默德朗乡村民没想到，那时全家一年收入才300美元，被贫困笼罩的生活，如今已发生翻天覆地的变化。2018年，西哈努克省人均年收入已达3358美元，在柬埔寨全国名列前茅。用当地官员的话说：西港特区就是当地经济发展的“引擎”和人民的“金饭碗”。

经过十多年运营的西港特区开启了下一段华丽转身的旅程。公司提出要以“与股东、员工、政府、客户、供方、合作伙伴、环境、社会（社区）八方共赢”的理念推进高质量发展。

3月11日，在西港特区工业二期建设现场，人头攒动、鼓号齐鸣、热闹非凡，这是一家来自浙江医疗器械公司的开工奠基仪式现场。与以往引入的服装、家具、木材加工企业不同，这家生产医疗器械的高科技公司成为不断完善园区产业布局的重要力量，是西港特区竞争力提升的体现。陈坚刚表示，“我们要的是产业集聚，而非企业扎堆。”只有逐步完善的产业链才能提升园区对投资者的吸引力和在众多园区中的竞争力。

目前，整体规划面积11.13平方公里的西港特区，只开发了5.28平方公里。在工业园一期的后方，各种重型机械正在一大片刚刚平整好的土地上紧张作业。那是工业园区二期，将通过引入五金机械、建材家居、精细化工等产业，搭建产能合作平台。

西港特区的产业发展道路也符合柬埔寨工业发展规划：优先发展高附加值、创新的和具有竞争力的新兴工业和制造业，促进经济特区全产业链发展。

西港特区公司还早早意识到，实现西港特区高质量发展目标，需要一手抓招商，一手办教育。只有办好教育，才能不断提升创新能力和产业升级的源动力。

在特区工作了3年多的柬埔寨女工努莉娜原本不会中文，只能从事手工劳动，月薪也一直在200美元上下徘徊。后来，在特区培训中心的帮助下，她通过免费的中文辅导班学会了一口流利的中文。如今，努莉娜已经成了厂里的管理人员，月薪达到了500美元。“真的要感谢特区培训中心，没有培训中心就没有我的今天。”努莉娜满怀感恩。

西港特區培训中心由西港特区公司和无锡商业职业技术学院（无锡商院）合作成立，开设汉语、英语、管理、贸易、会计、计算机、物流等专业，2012年以来已组织了14期培训，累计培训学员4万人次。

2018年，柬劳工与职业培训部、西港特区公司和无锡商院两家共同运营的西哈努克省中柬友谊理工学院开始招生；同年年底，这两家申办的西哈努克港工商学院正式获批。两所学院前者注重职业培训，后者注重学历教育。两所学院的设立，除满足本地优秀人才持续增长的需求外，也将为特区未来发展提供强有力支撑。

柬埔寨政府对此高度肯定，柬劳工与职业培训部国务秘书毕索坡恩说，在柬诸多工业园区中，只有西港特区设有培训中心，人才支持与特区发展相结合的发展模式值得其他园区学习。

3月22日，西哈努克省天朗气清、微风和煦，西港特区公司员工迎来乔迁之喜，特区人翘首以盼的“凤凰花园”公寓二号楼正式投入使用。

新家室内装修精致、家具用品齐全；室外回字形楼中间庭院特意留出了观赏区，环形水塘周边种满了热带观赏植物。一到晚上，整个观赏区流光溢彩，梦幻十足，是大家散步、休闲的好去处。除了配套公寓，这里已成为柬埔寨当地生产、生活配套设施完善的工业园区。园区内建有一个大型污水处理厂和178栋厂房，并配套建设了综合服务中心大楼和员工公寓、邻里中心、社区卫生服务中心等设施。

为营造“引得进、留得住、发展好”的运营环境，西港特区公司还引入了柬埔寨发展理事会、海关、商检、商业部、劳工局、西哈努克省政府代表入区办公，为企业提供“一站式”服务；建立了劳动力市场，定期在区内举办人力资源劳工招聘会；联合无锡商院共同开展培训工作，为区内员工提供语言及技能培训；成立法律服务中心，提供专业法律咨询服务。

刚入驻园区不久的浙江健拓医疗仪器科技有限公司总经理任云华欣喜地说，选择西港特区最重要的原因之一，就是这里为区内企业提供了“抱团发展”的平台，并为企业提供“一条龙”服务。

5月31日，西港特区又一配套基础设施——热电项目建设启动。这是柬埔寨国内首个热电联产项目，投运后将进一步保障供热、供电的可靠性和稳定性，解决企业用能的后顾之忧，极大提升特区的产业承接能力。此外，公司还加强同第三国专业的金融、法律服务平台合作，提供全新金融服务平台，形成国际化服务体系，吸引更多第三国企业入驻特区。

爱尔兰马装厂是于2010年入驻西港特区的第一家第三国企业（非柬埔寨、中国投资设立）。经过5年的高速发展，该厂向西港特区公司租赁1.3万余平方米的工业用地，自建厂房以扩大生产规模。公司负责人透露，从2013年开始，西港特区的建设突飞猛进，面貌日新月异，工厂成倍增加、人气越来越旺盛，呈现一片欣欣向荣的景象，西港特区的发展环境使他看到了工厂的发展前景，坚定了他对未来发展的信心。

继爱尔兰马装厂之后，韩国箱包公司LK，马来西亚内衣厂whitex，美国工艺品公司Caffco等第三国企业纷纷选择来此安家落户。如今，园区入驻的第三国企业已经达到了14家，包括来自美国、爱尔兰、韩国等发达国家的企业，有的第三国企业已经在制造业的全球产业链上深耕数十年。

没有梧桐树，哪来金凤凰？清晰的蓝图规划，务实的行动举措，正在成就更加耀眼的西港特区、我们已经看到实现了转型升级、高度国际化的西港特区正在向世界走来。

Samdech Hun Sen， Cambodian Prime Minister， has recognized and praised his special “son” in various occasions. The “son”， also favored by President Xi Jinping as “an example of China-Cambodia practical cooperation”， actually refers to the SSEZ. It not only serves as the largest special economic zone approved by the Cambodian government and the first cooperation zone with bilateral government agreements and bilateral coordination mechanism， but also a landmark project along the Belt and Road. It is 12 kilometers from Sihanoukville， 3 kilometers from Sihanoukville International Airport， and 4-hour flight from Wuxi， Jiangsu Province.

Entering SSEZ， the wide streets， unified planned buildings and roads with green belts make everything appear orderly and lively. The locals working in the park are neatly dressed and energetic. No one would have imagined that this place was once a barren and desolate land. The past images of this place still come to the mind of the local people and the builders of the special zone occasionally， in sharp contrast to the bustle and hustle of the present.

Originally， it was a wasteland where roads， water， electricity or network are underdeveloped with maximum elevation difference of 70 meters.

Recalling the past， Chen Jiangang， Chairman of the Company in SSEZ， described， “There was no road available， and you can’t go anywhere at night when it’s dark.”

In February 2008， the cornerstone laying ceremony for SSEZ was solemnly held. More than 90 ministerial officials led by Samdech Hun Sen were present at the ceremony.

In 2013， thanks to the pioneers of SSEZ， the wasteland was getting a little better： part of the infrastructure construction has been completed， and the roads and factories have been put into use. At that time， there were only 50 or so enterprises in the zone， with no more than 9，000 employees. “After President Xi Jinping proposed the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013， we were greatly encouraged. The SSEZ gained rapid development， and the number of enterprises settled in the zone began to increase significantly，” said Chen Jiangang.

Nowadays， factories and high buildings stand in great numbers in the park， and some commercial， residential， education， medical buildings and other supporting facilities are also put into use one after the other. SSEZ has witnessed tremendous growth and grown into a multinational industrial park with international capital attraction. With huge potential， SSEZ has become a favorite of Chinese and Cambodian leaders and media.

Ten years ago， no SSEZ erectors would expect that this weedy wasteland full of ravines and gullies would turn into a multinational industrial park with 161 companies contributing more than 50% to the economy of Preah Sihanouk Province. Ten years ago， at the Betrang village where SSEZ was located， the annual household income was only USD 300 and villagers had all suffered from poverty for long. However， their life has changed beyond recognition. In 2018， the per capita annual income in Preah Sihanouk Province reached USD 3，358. As a local official once said， SSEZ was the “engine” of local economic growth and the“golden rice bowl” of local people.

SSEZ has embarked on the next journey after ten years of operation and proposed to promote high-quality development with the concept of “win-win results for all sides， including shareholders， employees， governments， customers， suppliers， partners， environment， and society （community）”.

On March 11， at the construction site of the second phase of SSEZ， a lively groundbreaking ceremony for of a medical equipment company in Zhejiang Province was held， bustling with noise and excitement. Different from companies related to clothing， furniture and wood processing that are introduced in the past， this high-tech company producing medical equipment has become an important force to continuously improve the industrial layout of the park， and reflected the growth in competitiveness of SSEZ. Chen Jiangang said， “We want industrial agglomeration， not a bunch of enterprises located at one place.” Only a gradually improved industrial chain can enhance the park’s attraction to investors and competitiveness in similar parks.

At present， the planned area of the park is 11.13 square kilometers and the completed area covers only 5.28 square kilometers. Behind the first phase of the park， various pieces of heavy machinery are working on a large piece of newly-leveled land. That is the second phase of the park， which will become a capacity cooperation platform through the introduction of hardware machinery， building materials， fine chemical engineering and other industries.

The industrial development path of SSEZ is also in line with Cambodia’s industrial development plan， giving priority to the development of high value-added， innovative and competitive emerging industries and manufacturing industries to promote the entire industrial chain of SSEZ.

SSEZ also realized at an early time that to achieve the goal of high-quality development of SSEZ requires more investment and better education at the same time. Only by providing a good education， can they continuously improve the driving force of innovation and industrial upgrading.

Nulina， a female Cambodian who has worked at SSEZ for more than three years， used to only do manual work with a monthly salary around USD 200 because she could not speak Chinese. After learning at the SSEZ Training Center for free， she can now speak fluent Chinese. Today， Nulina has been promoted to a manager in the factory with a monthly salary of USD 500. “I am really thankful to the SSEZ Training Center. Without its help， I could not achieve all of this，” Nulina said with appreciation.

SSEZ Training Center is jointly established by SSEZ and Wuxi Vocational Institute of Commerce（WXIC）. It has covered majors of Chinese， English， management， trade， accounting， computer， logistics and so on. Since 2012， there have been 14 training sessions giving in total 40，000 trainings for students.

In 2018， the Preah Sihanouk Cambodia-China Friendship Polytechnic Institute， jointly operated by the Cambodian Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training， SSEZ and WXIC， began recruiting students. At the end of that year， SSEZ and WXIC received a formal approval to run the Sihanoukville Business School. The former of the aforementioned institutes focuses on vocational training， while the latter focuses on academic education. The establishment of them will not only meet the growing demands for local talent， but also provide strong support for the future development of SSEZ.

The Cambodian government highly affirms this effort. Pich Sophoan， Secretary of State at the Ministry of Labor， said that among many an industrial park in Cambodia， only SSEZ had a training center. Other parks should learn from the development model of SSEZ， which combines talent support and development of the special zone.

On March 22， it was clear， bright and breezy in Preah Sihanouk Province. The staff of SSEZ moved to a better place because the second building of“Phoenix Garden” apartments at SSEZ was put into service.

The interior decoration is exquisite， and furniture and household appliances are complete. The middle of this square-shaped building is a courtyard with a viewing area where tropical ornamental plants are planted near a circular pond. In the evening， the whole viewing area is full of colorful lights， a good place for people to walk and relax. In addition to apartments， this industrial park is equipped with complete production and living facilities. A large sewage treatment plant and 178 factory buildings are built in the park， along with a comprehensive service center， staff apartments， a neighborhood center， a community health service center and other facilities.

In order to create an operating environment of “introduction， retention， and development”， SSEZ also introduces Cambodia’s Council for the Development， Customs， Commodity Inspection， Ministry of Commerce， Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training， and representatives of Preah Sihanouk Provincial Government to the administrative building， so as to provide “one-stop”services for enterprises. SSEZ establishes a labor market and regularly holds job fairs for HR labor. It carries out training activities jointly with WXIC to provide language and skills training for employees in the park； a legal service center is also sets up to offer professional legal consulting services.

Ren Yunhua， general manager of Zhejiang Jiantuo Medical Equipment Company that is new to the park， said with delight that one of the most important reasons for choosing SSEZ was that it provides a platform for enterprises to develop together and provides enterprises with one-stop services.

On May 31， another supporting infrastructure of SSEZ was launched， namely the thermoelectric project. This is the first cogeneration project in Cambodia. After being put into service， it will further ensure the reliability and stability of heat and power supply， relieve worries about corporate energy usage， and greatly enhance the capacity of SSEZ. Furthermore， SSEZ has also strengthened its cooperation with financial and legal service platforms of any third countries， providing a brand new financial service platform and forming an international service system to attract more international enterprises.

The Irish Horsewear Factory was the first company from a third country （not Cambodia or China） to enter SSEZ in 2010. After five years of rapid development， the factory has leased more than 13，000 square meters of industrial land from SSEZ to build its own factories and expand production scale. According to the person in charge of the company， since 2013， the construction of SSEZ has been advancing by leaps and bounds. Factories multiply and enjoy an increasing popularity and prosperity. This development trend allows him to see the prospect of the factory and strengthens his confidence in the future.

Following the Irish Horsewear Factory， other companies from third countries have chosen to settle down here， such as LK Luggage Co，.Ltd from Republic of Korea， Whitex Garment （Cambodia） Co.，Ltd from Malaysia and Caffco International （Cambodia） Ltd. from the United States. Today， there are 14 companies from third countries like the United States， Ireland， ROK and other developed countries. Some companies from third countries have been developing in the global industrial chain of manufacturing for decades.

As an old Chinese saying goes， if you want to have phoenix， you have to plant sycamore trees first. That is to say， capable people will wisely choose their careers. As the clear blueprint and pragmatic actions leads SSEZ to a brighter future， the world can expect a highly international SSEZ after its transformation and upgrading.