Chinese Government provides $5 million grant for Sana'a University and Aden University LAN Network Construction Project

Project narrative

In March 2007, the Chinese Government and the Government of Yemen signed letters of exchange, committing $5 million of grant funding for the Sana'a University and Aden University LAN Network Construction Project. Then, on June 24, 2008, during Premier Xi Jinping's visit to Yemen, the two governments signed additional letters of exchange regarding the project. The primary purpose of this project was to build a Local Area Network (LAN or intranet) at the University of Sana'a (جامعة صنعاء) in the capital city of Sana'a and Aden University (جامعة عدن) in the port city of Aden. Another goal of the project was to increase internet access. The project was designed to cover 112 buildings on campus and 8600 hubs (or ‘information points’). The field investigation team of project, delegated by the Chinese government, arrived in Yemen on October 29, 2007, and began a one-month search and inspection. The team was mainly composed of 5 experts from China Mobile Communications Design Institute Co., Ltd. China International Telecommunication Construction Corporation (CITCC or 中国通信建设集团有限公司) was the contractor responsible for implementation. It signed a project implementation contract with the Chinese Government and the Information Technology Center of the Ministry of Higher Education of the Republic of Yemen on May 27, 2009. The contract signing ceremony was attended by Salah BaSorah of Yemen’s Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research and the economic attaché at the Chinese Embassy in Yemen. At the time of the signing of this contract, it was anticipated that project implementation would commence in three months and end within 10 months. This project was ultimately completed and handed over to the local authorities on January 22, 2011.