PHNOM PENH, June 1 (FN) — Cambodian timber magnate Try Pheap has signed off on a 300 million-U.S.-dollar seaport project with industry heavyweight Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH), a local newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The project will be the first wet port for Pheap, whose eponymous Try Pheap Group owns a variety of business ventures across the country.

"The two companies held the signing ceremony in Kep province (on Monday), but the international port is going to be built in (southwestern) Kampot province," Kep provincial governor Ken Sotha, who attended the event.

"Try Pheap said during the ceremony that the port will play an important role in serving sea transport and that the port will also be used to transport oil," he said.

Pheap, he added, said the partners would invest a combined 300 million U.S. dollars in the project and start construction soon, with the hope of finishing in 2019.

Hutchison Port Holdings is one of the world's leading port investor, developer and operator, with business at 48 ports across 25 countries around the globe, according to the company's website.