CDB provides $240 million loan to set up security service ECU 911 (Linked to Record ID#35950, #69319, #59325, #59662)

Project narrative

In 2012, the Chinese government provided a $240 million loan for the development of a 911-style emergency service called ECU 911. The project was likely funded through a 2011 China Development Bank loan worth $2,052,360,403.03 (captured via Record ID#35950), specifically through the $1.4 billion discretionary component (Tranche A; Record ID#69319). The borrowing terms of Tranche A have been applied to this project. In early December 2011, the first phase of the ECU 911 project was completed. On 23 December 2011, the Ecuadorian government signed signed the National Public Safety Command and Control System Project Phase II (国家公共安全指挥与控制系统项目第二期) with China National Electronics Import and Export Corporation (CEIEC), which is a subsidiary of major defense contractor China Electronics Corporation (CEC) . On 26 December 2012, the 911 Security Control Command Center opened in Quito, Ecuador. Known as the ECU 911 Security Project (or Ecuador 911 Safety Emergency Response Command Center Project or National Public Safety Command and Control System Project), the surveillance system now has 16 regional response centers across the country, as well as a surveillance network with about 4,300 cameras, many of which were purchased from Huawei. Reports from Ecuador's Ministry of Finance show that ECU 911 spent approximately $700,000 in 2014 for equipment from Huawei. In 2015 and 2016, the Ecuadorian government spent a total of $900,000 for Huawei's LTE rapid response system. According to Ecuador's National Statistics and Census Institute (INEC), as of January 2018, the crime rate has dropped by 11.8 percent since implementing ECU 911 . In 2015, the Chinese Embassy in Ecuador agreed to donate a total of $15.4 million worth of goods to ECU 911 (Record ID#59325). In 2016, China provided a $10 million non-repayable loan for the construction of a laboratory for ECU 911 at its headquarters in Quito (Record ID#59662).