China Eximbank provides a RMB 140 million government concessional loan for the National Transmission Trunk Line Project

On June 13, 2005, China Eximbank and Société Nationale des Telecommunications (Tunisie Télécom) — a Tunisian state-owned telecommunications company — signed an RMB 140 million government concessional loan (GCL) agreement for the National Transmission Trunk Line Project. The Government of Tunisia issued a sovereign guarantee in support of the loan. The proceeds of the loan were to be used by the borrower to finance an $18 million USD commercial contract (No. 99/2003 or 99/2003号) that Tunisie Télécom signed with Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. on August 4, 2004. The purpose of the project was to build a national transmission trunk line with 42 stations and 12 transmission rings (loops) in Tunisia’s major cities. There is some evidence in the December 2010 individual and consolidated financial statements of Tunisie Télécom that this project was implemented. However, precise implementation start and end dates are unknown.

Additional details

The Chinese project title is 华为公司在99/2003号国家传输干线项目 or 号国家传输干线项目 or 电信项目. In 2006, Tunisia’s telecommunication sector went through a privatization process and a 35% ownership stake in Tunisie Télécom was sold to Dubai Investment Group (DIG) and a consortium known as TECOM [previously known as EIT or Emirates International Telecommunications (Tunisia) FZ - LLC].

Number of official sources

3

Number of total sources

6