China Eximbank provides $30 million seller's credit to Alcatel-Lucent Shanghai Bell Co., Ltd. for Phase 1 of Lao Telecom Network Project (Linked to Project ID#64091, #64093)

In February 2001, China Eximbank issued a $30 million seller's credit loan to Alcatel-Lucent Shanghai Bell Co., Ltd., who provided it as a supplier's credit to the Government of Laos to finance Phase 1 of the Lao Telecom Network Project. The Government of Laos issued a sovereign guarantee in support of the loan. The proceeds of the loan were to be used by the borrower to finance the $34 million commercial (EPC) contract with Alcatel Shanghai Bell Co., Ltd., which was signed on November 17, 2000. The precise borrowing terms of the loan are unknown, but the IMF estimates that its grant element was 24% (non-concessional). The purpose of the project was to upgrade the mobile and fixed telephone network of the government-owned Lao Telecommunications Public Company (Lao Telecom or LTC). Alcatel Shanghai Bell Co., Ltd. was the EPC contractor responsible for implementation. As of 2005, the project was nearly complete. China Eximbank also financed Phase 2 of the Lao Telecom Project (captured in Project ID#64091) and Phase 3 of the Lao Telecom Project (captured in Project ID#64093).

Additional details

1. The Chinese project title is 老挝电信网一期扩容工程 or 上海贝尔公司老挝全国电信网络改造项目 or 上海贝尔公司老挝电信网一期扩容工程 or 老挝全国电信网络改造项目. 2. The China Eximbank loan that supported this project is not included in the Overseas Development Finance Dataset that Boston University’s Global Development Policy Center published in December 2020. 3. It is unclear if the loan that was issued was a buyer’s credit loan or a supplier’s credit from Alcatel Shanghai Bell Co., Ltd. (backed by an export seller’s credit from China Eximbank). This issue merits further investigation. 4. LTC became a Lao-Thai joint venture in 1996, with the Lao Government holding a 51% ownership stake and Thaicom holding a 49% ownership stake.

Number of official sources

5

Number of total sources

9