China funds reconstruction of Jose Maria Arguedas Elementary School in Peru through November 2008 ETCA grant (linked to #73186 and #73599)

On August 20, 2012, representatives of the Peruvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Chinese Embassy in Peru signed Letters of Exchange pledging to use grant funds provided through an Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) signed on November 19, 2008, to construct the Jose Maria Arguedas Elementary School (Escuela Primaria No. 20602 - José María Arguedas) in Santa Cruz de Cocachacra, Huarochirí, about 50 km east of Lima. The total cost of the construction project was approximately 30 million PEN. The school will provide education to about 320 primary school students. Per the Letters of Exchange, the Chinese government was in charge of commissioning the design of the project; the provision of machinery, equipment, construction materials; and sending a team of Chinese technicians to help carry out the construction. Yanjian Grupo Peru SAC was the contractor. The project's implementation follows a feasibility study, also financed by the Chinese government, captured in project #73599. The elementary school to be reconstructed through this project was destroyed in an earthquake in 2007. The school itself occupies an area of about 1400 square meters (construction area was 2,120 square meters). It contains two wings, one with two floors and the other with three floors. The center has 14 classrooms, including the following: seven general classrooms, a language laboratory for teaching Chinese, English and French, a multimedia room, library, music and dance room, cafeteria and kitchen, offices, a sports equipment room, and a central courtyard. The Letters of Exchange also outlined the inclusion of an auditorium, a room for teachers, the creation of a perimeter wall, and a paved area outside for sports. The local government has renamed the road in front of the school "China Road". A design team visited in September 2011. The August 20, 2012 Letters of Exchange were ratified via Decreto Supremo No. 010-2013-RE, on February 8, 2013, and the agreement constituted by the letters entered into force on March 21, 2013. The project was approved by the Peruvian Agency for International Cooperation (Agencia Peruana de Cooperación Internacional/APCI) and the Peruvian Ministry of Foreign Relations on March 20, 2014. There were several complications that pushed back the construction start date, according to the Chinese Embassy and the contractor, Yanjian Grupo Peru. Construction began sometime in early 2015 and took between 7 and 12 months to complete. Construction ended at the end of December 2015. On March 9, 2016, the handover ceremony was held. If unable to access links to original text of the August 20, 2012 Letters of Exchange, go to the Derecho Internacional/dipublico.org source, CTRL+F for 3750, and download document.

Additional details

Although the original transaction would have been in Chinese Yuan (RMB) since the project was funded by one or more ETCA, reports have only provided estimated cost of the construction project in Peruvian Soles (PEN): about 30 million PEN (approximately 10 million USD).

Number of official sources

14

Number of total sources

15