CDB and ICBC provide RMB 2 billion syndicated buyer’s credit for 4G Network Expansion and 5G Network Trials Project

On April 30, 2019, ZTE Corporation and Smartfren Telecom Tbk — a subsidiary of Sinar Mas (an Indonesian conglomerate) — signed an agreement for the 4G Network Expansion and 5G Network Trials Project. Merza Fachys, President Director of Smartfren, Gandi Sulistyanto, Chairman of Smartfren, Liang Weiqi, President Director of ZTE Indonesia, and Mei Zhonghua, Senior Vice President of ZTE, signed the agreement. Then, in 2020, ICBC and China Development Bank Shenzhen Branch signed an RMB 2 billion syndicated buyer’s credit loan agreement with Smartfren Telecom Tbk for the 4G Network Expansion and 5G Network Trials Project. The borrowing terms of the loan are unknown. However, it is known that the borrower purchased an RMB 79,365,600 buyer’s credit insurance policy from Sinosure on May 7, 2020 to cover approximately 95% of the value of the loan (RMB 1.885 billion). The purpose of the project is to expand Smartfren’s existing 4G telecommunications network in Indonesia and deploy 5G networks on a trial basis. ZTE Corporation is the contractor responsible for project implementation.

Additional details

1. This project is also known as the Sinar Mas Telecom LTE Phase 4 Project. The Chinese project title is 出口印尼金光电信LTE四期项目 or 印尼金光电信项目. 2. The precise loan commitment date. For the time being, AidData relies on the date (May 7 , 2020) when Sinosure issued a credit insurance policy in support of the loan. This issue warrants further investigation.

Number of official sources

6

Number of total sources

8