China Eximbank provides $31 million government concessional loan for Phase 1 of National Medical Center and Ministry of Health Headquarters Construction Project (Linked to Record ID#64848, 96220, 96219)

Project narrative

On January 26, 2010, the Vice President of China Eximbank (Zhu Hongjie) and Samoa's Finance Minister signed a $31 million government concessional loan (GCL) agreement for Phase 1 of the National Medical Center and Ministry of Health Headquarters Construction Project. The GCL carried the following borrowing terms: a 2% interest rate, a 20 year maturity, a 5 year grace period, a 0.75% commitment fee, and a 0.1% management fee. The loan had achieved by 100% disbursement rate as of June 30, 2017. The borrower made principal repayments worth WST 5,058,513 between July 1, 2016 and June 30, 2017, principal repayments worth WST 5,243,132 between July 1, 2017 and June 30, 2018, WST 5,208,103 between July 1, 2018 and June 30, 2019, WST 5,280,443 between July 1, 2019 and June 30, 2020, and no principal repayments between July 1, 2020 and June 30, 2021. The loan's amount outstanding was WST 82,031,250 as of June 30, 2013, WST 78,947,368 as of June 30, 2014, WST 89,743,590 as of June 30, 2015, WST 76,738,911 as of June 30, 2016, WST 67,577,497 as of June 30, 2017, WST 66,379,822 as of June 30, 2018, WST 59,599,822 as of June 30, 2019, WST 51,020,402 as of June 30, 2020 and WST 53,823,041 as of June 30, 2021. The purpose of the project was to construct a 22,866 square meter National Medical Center (also known as Tupua Tamasese Meaole Hospital) and a headquarters building for the Ministry of Health (MOH) in the city of Apia. The National Medical Center consists of three buildings. A Medical Technology building houses the pharmacy, laboratory and X-ray service on the ground floor – with the Operating Theatre, High Dependency Unit (HDU) and Birthing and Delivery suites located on the second floor. An Inpatient Building houses the Acute 8 and Children’s wards on the ground floor and the Surgical (Acute 7) and women’s wards occupy the second floor. A third building at the rear shelters the vital plants and major equipment such as the standby generator, water pumps and boilers to support the core service buildings. Shanghai Construction Engineering Group was the contractor responsible for implementation. On September 16, 2010, the groundbreaking ceremony for the MOH headquarters took place. The construction of the MOU headquarters was completed on July 22, 2011. A groundbreaking ceremony for Phase 1 of the Samoa National Medical Center also occurred on July 22, 2011. Phase 1 was officially completed and handed over to the local authorities on July 1, 2013. There are some indications that the China Eximbank loan for Phase 1 of the National Medical Center and Ministry of Health Headquarters Construction Project has financially underperformed vis-a-vis the original expectations of the lender. In 2020, as part of G20's Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI), China Eximbank and the Government of Samoa signed a debt suspension agreement. Under the terms of the agreement, the lender agreed to suspend principal and interest payments due between May 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020 under multiple loan agreements, including the loan agreement for Phase 1 of the National Medical Center and Ministry of Health Headquarters Construction Project. The total estimated suspension amount is $21,906,085. Then, in 2021, China Eximbank and the Government of Samoa signed another debt suspension agreement. Under the terms of the agreement, the lender agreed to suspend principal and interest payments due in 2021 under multiple loan agreements, including the loan agreement for Phase 1 of the National Medical Center and Ministry of Health Headquarters Construction Project. The total estimated suspension amount was $16,436,000 ($13,506,000 in principal payments and $2,929,000 in interest payments). The 2020 debt rescheduling is captured via Record ID#96220. The 2021 debt rescheduling is captured via Record ID#96219.