China Eximbank provides a $208.9 million preferential buyer's credit for Chom Chao-Bek Kus-Kampot Section of National Road No. 3 (NR 3) Construction Project

On January 11, 2018, under the witness of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Prime Minister of Cambodia Hun Sen, the Export-Import Bank of China and the Government of Cambodia signed a $208,915,450 preferential buyer's credit (PBC) agreement for the Chom Chao-Bek Kus-Kampot Section of National Road No. 3 (NR 3) Construction Project. The PBC carries the following borrowing terms: a 20-year maturity, 7-year grace period, and 2% interest rate. The proceeds of the PBC were to be used by the borrower to partially finance a $215 million commercial (EPC) contract between the Government of Cambodia’s Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MPWT) and China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC). According to the Government of Cambodia’s ODA Database, China Eximbank made three loan disbursements between 2019 and 2021: a $114,903,498 loan disbursement in 2019, a $31,337,317 loan disbursement in 2020, and a $10,445,773 loan disbursement in 2021. The lender was originally scheduled to make an additional disbursement worth $10,445,773 in 2022. The purpose of the project was to expand and reconstruct a 134.8 kilometer (km) stretch of National Road No. 3 (NR3), with a designed speed of 80 km/h. NR3 links the capital city of Phnom Penh and the southwestern coastal province of Kampot. The 134.8 km expanded road starts at the Chom Chao roundabout in Phnom Penh's western suburb and runs through Kandal, Kampong Speu and Takeo provinces. The project also sought to improve the access conditions of the Phnom Penh-Kombu-Sihanouk Port and improving the road network structure in southwestern Cambodia. China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) was the EPC contractor responsible for project implementation. Guangzhou Wanan Construction Supervision Co., Ltd. was the contractor responsible for project supervision. Construction officially began on May 7, 2018. The project was originally expected to reach completion within 48 months (May 7, 2022). However, the project was completed ahead of schedule. The road was completed and opened to traffic on March 2, 2022

Additional details

1. This project is also known as Phase II of National Road No. 3 (NR 3) Construction Project. The Chinese project title is 的柬3号公路改扩建项目. 2. As of May 2022, in the China’s Overseas Development Finance Dataset maintained by Boston University's Global Development Policy Center, the face value of the China Eximbank loan that supported this project is identified as $215 million. This appears to be a reference to the monetary value of the underlying commercial contract being financed by the loan and not the monetary value of the loan itself. AidData relies on the face value of the loan ($176,490,468) that is recorded by the borrower (the Government of Cambodia) in its ODA Database.

Number of official sources

12

Number of total sources

19