China Eximbank provides $242.2 million preferential buyer's credit for Thnal Kaeng-Ang Kroeung Segment of National Road No. 6 (NR 6) Reconstruction Project (Linked to Record ID#38722, ID#61163)

Project narrative

On June 13, 2012, China Eximbank and the Government of Cambodia signed a $242,269,000 preferential buyer's credit (PBC) agreement for the Thnal Kaeng-Ang Kroeung Segment of the National Road No. 6 (NR 6) Reconstruction Project. The borrowing terms of the PBC were as follows: 20-year maturity, 7-year grace period, 2% interest rate. The proceeds of the loan were to be used by the borrower to partially finance a $255 million commercial (EPC) contract with Shanghai Construction Group (SCG), which was signed in May 2012. The Thnal Kaeng-Ang Kroeung Segment of the National Road No. 6 (NR 6) Reconstruction Project was part of a larger initiative that was implemented in three phases (through three separate projects). It was referred to as 'Phase 3' of the larger initiative. It involved the expansion of a 248.525 km of NR 6 between Thnal Kaeng (Thnol Kaing) and Ang Kroeung. More specifically, it involved an expansion of three segments of NR 6: a 28.725 km segment between Thnal Kaeng District and Skun District in Kampong Thom Province; a 102.9 segment between Skun District to Stueng Saen District in Kampong Thom Province; and 116.9 km segment between Stueng Saen District and Ang Kroeung District in Siem Reap Province. The ultimate objective of Phase 3 was to increase connectivity between the capital city of Phnom Penh and the ancient capital city of Siem Reap and other northwest regions. The project was designed and built according to Chinese standards, upgrading the NR 6 from a level-3 to level-1 road. Upon completion, the road was expected to reduce travel time between Siem Reap and Phnom Penh from eight hours to four hours, SCG was the EPC contractor responsible for implementation. The project was supervised by Guangzhou Wanan Construction Supervision Company. Construction officially started on March 5, 2013. The project was completed in July 2017. The road segment was opened for use on June 11, 2018. During the four-year project implementation period, approximately 4,000 local construction workers were hired cumulatively, including technicians, constructors, machine operators, and testers, with 90% local staff during the peak construction period. The project indirectly created nearly 10,000 jobs. The whole length of NR 6 is located on the flood plains of Tonle Sap Lake and Mekong River. As a result, the road is strewn with pits and hollows in the rainy reason, making travel almost impossible and construction difficult. From the beginning of construction until project completion, the project team held a number of technical meetings to overcome these and other difficulties. Based on field observation and data analysis, the parties involved agreed to adopt the Technical Standard of Highway Engineering (JTG B01-2003) issued by the Chinese Ministry of Transport in the subgrade construction plan, and use the GB/T19001-2000 idt ISO9001: 2000 for quality assurance.