China Eximbank provides RMB 165 million government concessional loan for E-Government Project (Linked to Record ID#95365, 95363)

Project narrative

In May 2004, China’s Ministry of Information Industry and Fiji’s Ministry of Information Communication and Media Relations signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to establish ICT cooperation between China and Fiji. The MOU specified that the Chinese Government would provide a loan to finance an E-Government Project in order to improve economic development by providing Fiji government services online to businesses, citizens, and government employees. Then, on April 4, 2006, China Eximbank and the Government of Fiji’s Ministry of Economy signed an RMB 165,000,000 government concessional loan (GCL) agreement for the E-Government Project. The borrowing terms of the GCL were as follows: 2% interest rate, 20-year maturity (final maturity date: June 30, 2026), and 5-year grace period. The proceeds of the loan were to be used by the borrower to finance a commercial contract with Alcatel Shanghai Bell. The loan had fully disbursed by December 2010. Its (principal) amount outstanding was RMB 37,258,064.40 (FJD 11,620,267.72) as of June 30, 2023. The borrower made principal payments worth RMB 10,645,161.30 (FJD 3,458,757.19) and interest payments worth RMB 985,567.42 (FJD 298,188.94) between July 1, 2022 and June 30, 2023. The purpose of the project was to (a) build Government Information Infrastructure (GOVNET), and (b) deploy government services online through an E-Government portal. Alcatel Shanghai Bell was the contractor responsible for implementation. The project officially commenced on July 17, 2008 and it was completed on April 15, 2011. One of the project’s principal accomplishments was the development of GOVNET, linking most government agencies in the capital city of Suva as well as some government agencies in other locations. The network consists of a fiber optic backbone in Suva and wireless technology connects it to other parts of the country. GOVNET allows the government's 36,000 civil servants to exchange information electronically. In addition, the implementation of the E-Government project reportedly resulted in the creation of a state-of-the-art data center. There are some indications that the China Eximbank loan for the E-Government Project may have financially underperformed vis-a-vis the original expectations of the lender. In 2020, China Eximbank and the Government of Fiji signed a debt suspension agreement as part of the G-20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI). 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 government concessional loan (GCL) agreements (as captured via Record ID#95365). Debt service payments under all or many of these loan agreements were again deferred in 2021 (as captured via Record ID#95363).