[China-Venezuela Joint Fund] Venezuela Mission Alma Mater Project [linked to #58677)

In 2007, the China-Venezuela Joint Fund supported the Mission Alma Mater, a Venezuelan initiative to enhance higher education. According to Chavez's announcement at the launching of the initiative, there will be 11 new national universities, in addition to 13 regional ones and 4 new technical institutions. In addition, 29 existing technological institutes and schools will be converted to technical universities. According to AVN, 10 new universities would be created for this Mission. The specific beneficiaries of the funding from the Joint Fund are unclear. In 2008, it was announced that in two years there will be 25 new institutions, of which 10 will be specialized, 12 will be built in the states and 3 will be university institutes of technology. Of those that will be transformed, 17 university institutes will be polytechnic universities and 8 industrial technical schools will become university technological institutes. There will be 12 state universities, these will be built in Maracaibo, Cabimas, Caracas (Catia and Petare), Barquisimeto, Mérida, Maracay, San Cristóbal, Los Teques, Guarenas, Valencia and Barcelona. The 3 university institutes will be in Nueva Esparta, Maturín and the Valles del Tuy. In addition to creating new institutions, 200 buses were delivered to different universities.. The China-Venezuela Joint Fund receives contributions from China Development Bank and FONDEN, and it is administered by Bandes. See project ID#58677 for more information on the fund. The first commitment to this fund was made in 2007, and the Medium source says that the Mission Alma Mater project was executed in 2010.

Additional details

The flow type is unclear. The CDB contributions to the Fund were a loan, so it is possibly a loan here. The Mission Alma Mater project began in 2007, but it is unclear when the Joint Fund started financial support: multiple sources say the project began to be executed in 2010, which is why it is coded as the commitment year. As it accounts for multiple education projects, this project may be an umbrella. The transaction amounts for all sub-projects are accounted for in the projects for the three tranches and their renewals. Because it is unclear how much funding for each project is from the Chinese side and it is unclear which tranche is funding each sub-project, the transaction amounts should not be recorded until this information is known.

Number of official sources

2

Number of total sources

8