CIDCA provides RMB 80 million interest-free loan for 28 Passenger Carriages Acquisition Project

Project narrative

On December 3, 2018, Myanmar’s Parliament approved the government’s plan to borrow RMB 80 million ($11.6 million) from the Chinese Government for the purchase of railway carriages. Then, on March 14, 2019, the China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA) and the Government of Myanmar’s Ministry of Planning and Finance signed an exchange of letters, which officially committed an RMB 80 million interest-free loan for the 28 Passenger Carriages Acquisition Project. The loan carries the following borrowing terms: a 25-year maturity, a 10-year grace period, and a 0% interest rate. The borrower is responsible for repaying the loan in ten equal, annual installments (worth RMB 8 million) after the expiration of the 5-year disbursement period and the 10-year grace period. The purpose of the project is to facilitate the acquisition of 28 air-sprung passenger carriages—14 ordinary and 14 first class—for use on the Yangon-Mandalay railroad. The trains were sourced from Hebei Machinery & Equipment Import & Export Corporation (HBMEC) and CRRC Sifang Co., Ltd. (Qingdao CRRC Sifang Rolling Stock Co., Ltd.). On January 19, 2020, when President Xi Jinping visited Myanmar, the Minister for Transport and Communications of Myanmar U Thant Sin Maung and Chinese Minister of Commerce Mr. Zhong Shan signed and exchanged a project implementation agreement. Then, on January 5, 2021, the trains were handed over to the Burmese authorities.