China Eximbank provides a loan for the Dubai Silicon Park Project

Project narrative

On December 22, 2016, Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority awarded a contract worth AED 1.2 billion ($300 million USD) to China State Construction Engineering Corporation Middle East (L.L.C) (CSCEC ME), a subsidiary of the CSCEC, for Dubai Silicon Park Project. The Tianjin Branch of the Export-Import Bank of China subsequently issued a loan to an unknown entity for the Dubai Silicon Park Project. Further loan details are unknown. The purpose of the project was to construct the UAE’s first integrated free zone technology park, Dubai Silicon Park, later renamed Dubai Digital Park (DDP), was a smart city project that covers an area of 15 hectares (150,000 square meters) and comprises 47,000 square meters of office space, 17,000 square meters of retail units, and 235 smart residential apartments. It included eight office buildings ranging from 4,000 square meters to 6,000 square meters providing flexible office accommodation fully integrated with smart services. Facilities in the park included a Radisson Red hotel with 112 business hotel rooms and 59 fully furnished apartments, as well as a convention center that can accommodate more than 500 people. The construction area covered 240,000 square meters. The project was described as a demonstrative project for the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), as well as a flagship project to turn Dubai into a smart city. The master developer of the park was Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority. The architect of the project was DAR Consult. CSCEC ME was the contractor responsible for construction. The contracted construction period was 27 months. The groundbreaking ceremony of the project was held on February 27, 2017. The park was completed by December 2018. The originally expected project handover date was Q1 of 2018. The handover process began in the first quarter of 2020 and companies began moving into the park in 2020