Chinese Government provides $14.61 million grant — via ETCA — for National Convention Center Construction Project (Linked to Record ID#63179, #63005)

Project narrative

In 2013, the Chinese Government provided a grant worth $14.61 million to the Government of the Republic of Vanuatu for the National Convention Center Construction Project. Some of the grant proceeds were drawn from an Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) that the two governments signed in 2009 (see Record ID#63179). The purpose of the project was to construct a new, 44,000 square meter national convention center in the city of Port Vila next to the National Parliament Building. The center would have a 1,000-seat auditorium, 600-seat fully equipped restaurant and kitchen facility, 200 seat press conference room, 4 side meeting rooms, and a VIP room. It would also be equipped with a state of the art movie theater system and facility to host performances by local and visiting artists from overseas. The two governments first signed letters of exchange for the implementation of a project feasibility study on March 3, 2010, but the project suffered delays due to disputes within the Government of Vanuatu about its necessity. It was originally proposed for the ACP-EU meeting that Vanuatu was responsible for hosting in 2012. Then, a change of government in 2013 led to a request from the Government of Vanuatu for the project to be relocated or for the funds to be used for another project. However, the Chinese Government insisted the project continue as planned because it ‘was too far along’, and a construction contract had already been signed with Jiangsu Provincial Construction Group Ltd. A formal groundbreaking ceremony was held on January 13, 2013. However, construction did not begin until August 2013. 60 Chinese workers and around 120 ni-Vanuatu workers were reportedly employed to support the construction process. The final project handover ceremony was held on May 13, 2016. The project was originally expected to reach completion in August 2015 but construction was delayed by Cyclone Pam. The Government of Vanuatu planned to use the space to host the 2017 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.