MOFCOM provides $4.16 million grant for Ministry of Foreign Affairs Building Construction Project (Linked to Record ID#65688)

On June 20, 2005, the Chinese Government and the Palestinian National Authority signed an exchange of letters, which committed grant funding for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Building Construction Project.

Then, in late 2005, the Chinese Representation Office in Ramallah and the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs approached the United Nations Development Programme/Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People (UNDP/PAPP) about the possibility of the supporting the implementation of this project.

On October 4, 2008, a tripartite project implementation agreement was signed by the funder (China’s Ministry of Commerce), the recipient (the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs), and the organization responsible for project implementation (UNDP/PAPP).

This agreement allocated $4,160,000 of grant funding (captured in Record ID#64968) for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Building Construction Project: $3,550,716 would be used for construction and design costs; $449,284 would be used to decorate the office; and the remaining $160,000 would be set aside for a ‘Chinese Administration Fee’.

The agreement also defined the scope of the project, which included constructing, furnishing and equipping a new office building for the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) in the city of Ramallah (رام الله). The 11 story building, which occupies a total area of 9,481.74 m2, was designed to accommodate approximately 400 staff.

Under the terms of the October 4, 2008 agreement, UNDP/PAPP was responsible for selecting and supervising an EPC contractor and it ultimately selected the M/S Musleh, Atlantic and Shaheen Joint Venture.

A Chinese firm called China Friendship Development International Engineering Design and Consultation Co., Ltd. was also selected to assist with project supervision and evaluation duties.

At the time that the October 4, 2008 agreement was signed, project implementation was expected to last two years and end on October 3, 2010. However, this project encountered various delays, which slowed its implementation.

On December 14, 2009, the Chinese Government and the Palestinian National Authority signed another exchange of letters, and China’s Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Palestinian National Authority, and UNDP signed a supplemental tripartite project implementation agreement on September 5, 2010.

Through the latter agreement, China’s Ministry of Commerce allocated an additional $6,840,000 of grant funding for the project (captured in Record ID#65688).

The agreement specified that the grant funding would be drawn from two Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreements (ETCA) that the Chinese Government and the Palestinian National Authority signed on December 27, 2004 and May 18, 2005.

It further specified that the grant funding for the project would disbursed through two bank accounts (Aid Account No. 8 and Aid Account No. 9) established by China Development Bank and the Ramallah Branch of Arab Bank.

Although a formal groundbreaking ceremony took place on October 4, 2008, construction did not begin until November 24, 2010.

Then, in April 2012, a MOFCOM-sponsored mid-term project inspection was undertaken by China Friendship Development International Engineering Design and Consultation Co., Ltd. The project was ultimately completed and handed over to the local authorities on November 13, 2015.