[China-Venezuela Joint Fund] CDB provides $218 million for Yutong Bus Factory (Linked to Record ID#38140, #58677)

Project narrative

In 2014, Venezuela's Ministry of Transport received a USD $218 million advance payment from the China-Venezuela Joint Fund in order to fund the creation of a factory for Yutong buses in Yaracuy, Venezuela. The plant was expected to produce 3,600 vehicles a year, and funding was expected to cover the studies, equipment, installation, and procurement of the plant. The Ministry of Transport's National Urban Transport Fund Foundation (Fontur) and Venezuelan public company Vialidad y Construcciones Sucre (VycSucre) were responsible for project execution, at least initially. The project was to take place in two phases: the first for the assembly of already semi-assembled units and a second for the production of entirely new units. Then, on October 8, 2015, a joint venture was created in relation to the project -- Planta de Autobuses Yutong Venezuela SA -- with 40% owned by the Venezuelan Ministry of Land Transport and Public Works, 40% owned by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, 15% owned by Yutong Hong Kong Limited, and the remaining 5% additionally owned by one of the Venezuelan ministries. However, the exact responsibilities and obligations of this joint venture are unknown. The plant began operations related to the first phase in 2015. However, despite plans that the plant would produce 3,600 vehicles per year, Minister of Transport and Public Works, Luis Sauce announced in 2016 that only about 100 units were produced in the first year of operation. Further, there reportedly has not been progress on the second phase, in which new/"complete knock down" units were to be assembled. In 2019, the president of the plant announced that only 1,600 units had been assembled in the four years of plant operation.