A 14-storey children's entertainment centre under construction in Cambodia has enlisted four Canterbury businesses to kit it out, in a deal worth about $1 million.

One of the joint-venture developers, Meng Heng, contacted Christchurch-based Delta Strike International to supply about $100,000 worth of equipment for laser tag at the centre and that led him to climbing wall company Clip n Climb, which has quirky climbing wall centres around New Zealand.

The Christchurch climbing company is supplying about $400,000 worth of its equipment to set up a climbing wall in the centre.

Science Alive got roped in as well after Clip n Climb co-owner John Targett suggested the Cambodian developer pop round the corner and take a look at them as an alternative to over-expensive American scientific entertainment quotes.

Science Alive chief executive Neville Petrie said doing staff team-building exercises at Clip n Climb had paid off, with the developer buying a $650,000 educational science setup in the Science Alive style.

The design work was done by Kairaki Beach industrial designer and artist Tim Stephenson. The setup will have augmented reality exhibits through to puzzle areas.

Petrie said the Cambodian centre was a prototype and, if successful, Meng would look at replicating the centres in Laos and Myanmar as he has a chain of toy and book shops in Cambodia and those countries.

That could mean repeat business for the Canterbury suppliers, Petrie said.

Meng's partner in the venture is the daughter of the Cambodian prime minister, so it was a well-connected project, he said.

Delta Strike International chief executive Doug Willems founded the Laser Strike business in the Harvey Norman Centre. He sold that business in 2005 and focused on producing and exporting equipment around the world.

The business had grown steadily in the first five years, but had started to ramp up recently, he said.

The order was a standard job for his company, which makes its products in China and sells in Europe, the United States, Asia and Africa. It was the first sale he had made to Cambodia.

It was great that so many Canterbury businesses were supplying one project, Willems said.

The children's centre is expected to be completed at the end of this year.

- © Fairfax NZ News