A Malaysian company has won rights from the Cambodian government to develop a tourism project in Cambodia at a cost of two to three billion dollars, an official from the firm said on Friday.

KSKW, majority-owned by Malaysians with the Cambodian government holding a "very minor" stake, has a 99-year lease for Ta Kiev island off Cambodia's southern coast, the company's spokesman Eddy Chew said.

"In those 99 years we are supposed to be clearing it and putting up an integrated resort which includes gaming, a beach resort, golf course, marina and maybe even a theme park," Chew told AFP .

"We have been given the rights to the entire island but we are encouraging eco-tourism and as such we are not clearing the whole island. We are considering 30 to 40 percent of the island for development," he said.

Based in Phnom Penh, KSKW was created specifically for the project and is trying to raise US$100 million in funds in the next 12 months to start the initial phase of the project, including land clearing, Chew said.

"We are looking into developing the whole 30 to 40 percent, which is about 350 to 400 hectares, in about a 10 year time frame," he said.

Little experience

KSKW is lead by Malaysian businessmen from Penang with little development experience, but Chew said the firm would benefit from a strategic partnership with Chinese firm, the Zhong Rong Group.

"Zhong Rong are offering their expertise as well as a joint venture possibility with us to develop the resorts because they come to us with the development experience as well," he said.

"Zhong Rong are seasoned developers in China, they know what it takes to run a multi-billion dollar project," he said, adding KSKW was also talking to Malaysian developers.

Despite plans for gaming outlets, Chew said the project was aimed at being more family-oriented and was not attempting to compete with integrated gaming resorts being developed in Singapore or with Malaysian gaming group Genting.

"We are in a different market ... We are looking at the Chinese mainland market which gives us the biggest potential right now," said Chew, who noted increasing Chinese tourist arrivals in Southeast Asia.

"It's only a matter of time before the more well-exposed and well-educated mainland Chinese will start exploring places like Cambodia," he said.