China on Tuesday signed agreements with Cambodia in Phnom Penh
to provide US$195.7 million of preferential loans to help improve
the kingdom's national roads and construct bridges upon its major
rivers.
Representatives from both sides signed the two agreements in
presence of Prime Minister Hun Sen and other senior government
officials as well as Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Zhang
Jinfeng.
Under the first agreement, the Chinese government extends
US$51.9 million of concession loan for the Cambodian Ministry of
Public Works and Transportation to rehabilitate the
127-kilometer-long National Road No. 76 from Snoul District of
Kratie Province to Sen Monorom District of Mondulkiri Province.
As contractor of the agreement, the China Road and Bridge
Corporation will start the work, which features the DBST technology
(Double Bituminous Surface Treatment), on Jan. 31, 2007 and finish
it on May 30, 2010.
Under the second agreement, the Chinese government provides
US$143.8 million of preferential buyer's credit loan for the
Cambodian Ministry of Public Works and Transportation to design and
construct the 109-kilometer-long National Road No. 8 from Kandal
Province to the Cambodian-Vietnamese border, the 1,060-meter-long
Prek Tamak Bridge located on the upstream of the Mekong River, and
the 975-meter-long Prek Kdam Bridge located on the downstream of
the Tonle Sap River.
As contractor of the agreement, the Shanghai Construction
(Group) General Company will finish the road project in 40 months
and the bridge projects in 50 months.
Zhang Jinfeng said that these projects bear witness to the ever
strong friendship between the two nations.
Meanwhile, Cambodian Minister of Economics and Finance Keat
Chhun expressed appreciation for China's help.
(Xinhua News Agency October 24, 2006)
