Chinese Government provides grant for Phase 2 of CCTV Camera Installation Project (Linked to Record ID#41074 and ID#64612)

Project narrative

In October 2007, the Chinese Government and the Government of Jordan signed letters of exchange, committing RMB 20 million of grant funding for Phase 1 of the CCTV Camera Installation Project. The grant proceeds for the project were drawn from an Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) that the two governments signed on June 19, 2007 (see Record ID#65135). Then, on April 16, 2008, the Jordanian Public Security Department signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with a Chinese company to install closed-circuit television (CCTV) systems in strategic sites across the capital city of Amman. The MOU was signed at a ceremony attended by Jordan’s Planning Minister, Suhair Al-Ali, the Chinese Ambassador to Jordan, Gong Xiaosheng, and Public Security Department (مديرية الأمن العام) Assistant Director Brigadier General Thaher Gharaybeh. Then, on September 28, 2008, the Chinese Government and the Government of Jordan signed letters of exchange, granting CCTV technology to the Public Safety Command Center managed by the Jordanian Public Security Department (PSD). The CCTV Camera Installation Project involved the installation and commissioning of 138 CCTV cameras across 26 sites within the city of Amman. It also involved the training of Jordanian technical engineers and system administrators to supply, install, operate and adjust the equipment. The ultimate purpose of the project was to help the PSD build an effective command and control electronic system to monitor strategic sites and thereby improve public security. Shanghai International Technology & Trade Corporation (ITTC) was the contractor responsible for project design. China Jiangsu International Economic and Technical Corporation (中国江苏国际经济技术合作集团有限公司) was the contractor responsible for project implementation. A project implementation contract was signed on March 12, 2019 and Phase 1 was officially completed and handed over to the local authorities on September 8, 2010. The Chinese Government also provided grant funding for Phase 2 and Phase 3 of this project. It is unclear when Phase 2 commenced and how much grant funding the Chinese Government committed to support its implementation. However, at a 2017 Belt and Road Forum in China, Jordanian Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, Imad Fahoury, noted that the Chinese Government had already funded Phase 2. At the same Forum, Imad Fahoury met with Chinese Government officials to discuss funding for the third and final phase of the project. On December 30, 2018, at a meeting between the Jordanian Minster of Planning and International Coordination, Mary Kawar, and Chinese Ambassador to Jordan, Pan Weifeng, coordination on funding for the third phase of the project was described as ‘ongoing’. Then, on October 30, 2019, during a seminar hosted by the Chinese Embassy to Jordan, a Jordanian media group (Al Rai Center for Studies) described funding for the third phase of the project as ‘under negotiation’. Phase 1 is captured in Record ID#41074. Phase 2 is captured in Record ID#64611. Phase 3 is captured in Record ID#64612.