Kandal Province
Kandal encircles Phnom Penh as its industrial buffer: 189,438 workers, 7 industrial parks, 500,000+ in garment factories—the capital's overflow zone.
Kandal functions as Phnom Penh's economic buffer zone—the province that completely surrounds the capital and absorbs spillover industry, population, and infrastructure. With 189,438 industrial workers (second only to Phnom Penh's 413,134), Kandal hosts seven industrial parks and over 500,000 garment factory workers in facilities that benefit from proximity to the capital while avoiding its costs. Ta Khmau, the provincial capital just eight kilometers south of central Phnom Penh, effectively functions as a suburb.
The Phnom Penh Techo International Airport, operational since 2025, locates in Kandal Stueng District—placing Cambodia's primary international gateway technically outside the capital. This geographic arrangement reflects how Kandal absorbs metropolitan functions while Phnom Penh captures the administrative and symbolic value. Larger firms congregate here and in Phnom Penh due to superior infrastructure and services, creating a manufacturing belt that encircles the capital.
Beyond industry, farming and fishing remain foundational. Palm oil, peanuts, rice, and pepper production anchors the agricultural economy, while cottage industries specialize in wood carving, silk, and handicrafts. Kandal is among Cambodia's wealthier provinces—a status derived from serving as the capital's hinterland. The province exemplifies how secondary nodes capture value by providing space, labor, and infrastructure for activities that overflow from primary centers while remaining economically dependent on the core city they surround.