Chinese Government provides a grant for the Laos Railway Vocational and Technical College Project (Linked to Record ID#88687)

Project narrative

On September 4, 2018, the Chinese Government and the Government of Laos signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for a feasibility study for the Laos Railway Vocational and Technical College Project. The project sought to construct a full-time vocational and technical college in Vientiane to train railway workers for Laos. Specifically, the project was intended to complement the Chinese Government-financed China-Laos Railway Project (as captured via Record ID#85304 and #33726, a key project of the Belt and Road Initiative). Then, on April 30, 2019, China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA) approved the Aid to Laos Railway Vocational and Technical College. The Aid to Laos Railway Vocational and Technical College took two separate forms: Chinese Government-provided grant financing for the construction of the Laos Railway Vocational and Technical College (as captured via Record ID#63790) and educational capacity building and educational technology cooperation (Chinese: 教育能力建设及教育技术合作) by Kunming Railway Vocational and Technical College (as captured via Record ID#88687). The Ministry of Commerce of China (MOFCOM) was the specific Chinese Government institution responsible for providing this grant. The Yunnan Provincial Department of Commerce organized implementation. Yunnan Construction and Investment Holding (YCIH) won the bid to implement the project in July 2021. On January 1, 2021, Yunnan Design Institute Group Co., Ltd. (Yunnan Provincial Design Institute-Yunnan Engineering Construction Supervision Company) sent a seven-person inspection team of 7 people to negotiate the project plan, sign the project implementation agreement with Laos, and conduct site surveys. The Laotian regulations in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic caused complications, but ultimately the team arrived. YCIH No.2 Water Resources and Hydropower Construction Co., Ltd. was also involved in the project implementation. The college was located in Borkham Village, Xaythan, Vientiane. The entire project included the construction of the school, two years of educational capacity building, and five years of education cooperation including school building construction. The project covered an area of approximately 14.5 hectares for a total construction area of about 33,000 square meters. The project included the construction of administrative, training, and complex buildings, dormitories for students and teachers, apartments for experts, other facilities, and the provision and installation of teaching materials and equipment. Construction began on September 20, 2021. Construction was originally expected to reach completion in the second half of 2023. The project was ultimately completed on August 17, 2023. A project handover ceremony was held on October 12, 2023 and a project handover certificate was issued on October 18, 2023.