China Eximbank pledges loan for South Santo Road Rehabilitation Project

As of 2015, the China Exim Bank had proposed the Santo South Coast Road Rehabilitation (or South Santo Road Rehabilitation Project). An economic assessment was performed in November 2013. If approved, the investment value, or loan amount, according to page xi of the Vanuatu Strategic Plan, is $25.6 million and would be between China Exim Bank and the Vanuatu Ministry of Infrastructure and Public Utilities (MIPU). Due to lack of local funding, the China aid was on hold and had not yet been committed. Based on the 'Vanuatu Economic Assessment' of the Project in 2014 by the Vanuatu Ministry of Finance and Economic Management, the infrastructure project is estimated to be worth US$146 million total. Construction will be carried out by China Railway First Group; work is scheduled to commence on July 1, 2014, and end on June 30, 2018. According to the Strategic Plan, the project would involve rehabilitating 71km of road between Luganville and Tassiriki, 22km of feeder roads on the South Coast, and rebuilding 10 bridges. In June, 2015, local media reported that an estimated USD $60.65 million loan had been approved for the project and that China Railway First Group Co Ltd had been contracted for the work. According to media reports, construction phase 1 for the project started in May 2023.

Number of official sources

3

Number of total sources

8