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Overview

Bank of China (Hong Kong) Vientiane Branch provides loan for Vientiane World Trade Center (WTC) Project

Commitments (Constant USD, 2023)$265,535,369
Commitment Year•2012Country of Activity•Lao People's Democratic RepublicDirect Recipient Country of Incorporation•Lao People's Democratic RepublicOverseas Jurisdiction•Lao People's Democratic RepublicSector•Other MultisectorFlow Type•Loan

Status

Project lifecycle

Completion

Pipeline: PledgePipeline: CommitmentImplementationCompletion

Timeline

Key dates

Commitment date
Jan 1, 2012

Stakeholders

Organizations involved in projects and activities supported by financial and in-kind transfers from Chinese government and state-owned entities

Ultimate beneficial owners

At least 25% Chinese ownership

Funding agencies

State-owned Commercial Banks

  • Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited (BOCHK)

Receiving agencies

Joint Venture/Special Purpose Vehicles

  • Lao International Development Co., Ltd

Insurance providers

State-owned companies

  • China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation (Sinosure)

Loan description

BOCHK branch contributions to loan for Vientiane World Trade Center (WTC) Project

Interest type•Unknown

Narrative

Full Description

Project narrative

In 2012, Lao International Development Co., Ltd (LID or 老挝国际发展 or 老撾國際發展有限公司 or ບໍລິສັດ ພັດທະນາ ລາວ ສາກົນ ຈໍາກັດ) — a special purpose vehicle owned by Dehong Huihe Investment Group Co., Ltd. (德宏汇合集团 or 德宏汇合投资集团有限公司) — successfully obtained a concession from the Vientiane Municipal Government of over 400,000 square meters of land in the Nongchanh area of Vientiane to build a large commercial complex consisting of a world trade center, a new central district, and an industrial park. Bank of China (Hong Kong) (BOCHK) and the Vientiane Branch of BOCHK subsequently issued a loan to Lao International Development Co., Ltd for the Vientiane World Trade Center (WTC) Project. The borrowing terms of the loan are unknown. However, it is known that Sinosure provided a credit insurance policy. The purpose of the $700 million project was to build a mixed use development area — consisting of a shopping complex, an office complex, a cinema, residential apartments targeted mostly at executives, and a five-star hotel — on Khuvieng Road in Vientiane’s Sisattanak District. The project, which was implemented in two phases, commenced in 2012 and concluded in 2018. Phase 1 concluded on March 28, 2015.

Staff comments

1. The Chinese project title is 老挝WTC项目 or 老挝万象国际商业旅游中心 or 域的万象世贸中心项目. 2. The face value of the loan from Bank of China (Hong Kong) and Bank of China (Vientiane) is unknown. For the time being, AidData assumes that the project was financed according to a debt-to-equity ratio of 70:30, which implies that the loan commitment was equivalent to $490 million. For the time being, AidData assumes that each branch of BOCHK provided an equal share of the financing. This issue warrants further investigation. 3. The ownership structure of Lao International Development Co., Ltd is opaque. This issue warrants further investigation. 4. On June 28, 2019, the Vientiane Branch Bank of China and Lao International Development Co., Ltd signed a housing mortgage loan cooperation agreement. The borrowing terms and face value of this loan merits further investigation.