Completed Mixed AidData Chinese Aid

China Eximbank provides $20.9 million preferential buyer's credit for Safe City Project

$20.9M USD

Funder	Export-Import Bank of China (China Eximbank)
Recipient Organization	Tajikistan Ministry of Finance
Country	Tajikistan
Start Date	May 20, 2013
End Date	Mar 05, 2026
Duration	4,672 days
Number of Grantees	1
Roles	Recipient
Data Source	AidData Chinese Aid
Grant ID	`71411`

Grant Description

China Eximbank provides $20.9 million preferential buyer's credit for Safe City Project On May 20, 2013, the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Tajikistan and Export-Import Bank of China (China Eximbank) signed a $20,900,000 preferential buyer’s credit (PBC) for the Safe City Project. The PBC (loan) agreement was ratified by the Tajik Parliament in June 2013.

📋 Loan / Grant Terms

💰 Loan Amountcarries the following borrowing terms: a 2% interest rate

📅 Maturity20 years

⏳ Grace Period9 years

💹 Interest Rate2%

The borrower was expected to use the proceeds of the loan to finance 95% of the total cost of a $22 million commercial contract between Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan, which was signed on December 22, 2012. The borrower was also expected to repay the loan with revenues from the traffic fines generated by this project.

The Safe City Project involved the installation of 855 CCTV cameras for round-the-clock monitoring of traffic and other movements at 75 crossroads, streets, and squares in the capital city of Dushanbe.

The cameras were to record every offense committed by drivers, which would be stored and processed in a common database. Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. was responsible for project implementation. Tajik Ministry of Internal Affairs was also responsible for undertaking the project.

The project and the control center were officially launched on October 31, 2013 by President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon. The Safe City Project was to be carried out in three stages; the second stage was expected to be finished in May 2014. The project was still on going as of December 2014. As of January 16, 2015, it had reportedly generated $4 million for the Tajik state budget via traffic fines.

Construction was completed in October 2015.

📋 Staff Comments

The Russian project title is Автоматическая система управления транспорта в городе Душанбе (Безопасный город).
The PBC (loan) agreement can be accessed in its entirety (in Russian and English) via https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/fgvqgylacc39einwen4lf/Tajikistan-2013-China-Eximbank-PBC-for-Safe-City-Project-Russian.pdf?rlkey=oqsi4m30tpx75xj67u0b484zb&dl=0 and https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/7nll12v438owtbfz5kqaf/Tajikistan-2013-China-Eximbank-PBC-for-Safe-City-Project-English.pdf?rlkey=7uh4163zn6u5iargrcfwjdq2g&dl=03. Asia Plus reported that Tajikistan authorities claimed the loan would be repayable through traffic violation fines.
According to information that the IMF provided to AidData, on May 20, 2013, the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Tajikistan signed two loan agreements with the Export-Import Bank of China for the Safe City Project: a RMB-denominated government concessional loan (GCL) provided on highly concessional terms (20-year maturity, 11-year grace period, and 1.5% interest rate) and a preferential buyer’s credit (PBC) loan on highly concessional terms (2% interest, 20-year maturity, 9-year grace period). However, AidData has only independently identified a single China Eximbank loan (PBC) agreement for the Safe City Project. This issue warrants further investigation.

📚 Sources & References

China and Central Asia in the Post-Soviet Era: A Bilateral Approach
China reportedly expected to allot 200 million yuan in no-strings to Tajikistan Read
Fines for traffic violations last year reach nearly half a billion somoni in Tajikistan
Following Up
Implementation of the Safe City Project has earned Tajikistan more than 50 million somoni
Installation of CCTV cameras in Dushanbe going on Read more: https://news.tj/en/news/installation-cctv-cameras-dushanbe-going
List of Chinese Government-Financed Projects in Tajikistan from the Ministry of Finance via the IMF May 2018
Safe City Improves Traffic
Cuts Crime
Tajik parliament ratifies two loan agreements signed with China Exim Bank
Tajik President has highly appreciated the Huawei project 'Safe City' Read more: https://asiaplustj.info/en/news/tajikistan/economic/20150903/tajik-president-has-highly-appreciated-huawei-project-safe-city
Tajikistan 2013 China Eximbank PBC for Safe City Project English
Tajikistan 2013 China Eximbank PBC for Safe City Project Russian
Tajikistan-China top-level talks, Более $4 млн. принес доход госбюджету Таджикистана проект «Безопасный город», Встреча Министра внутренних дел с Вице-президентом компании «Huawei Technologies», О проектах соглашений между Правительством Республики Таджикистан и Экспортно-импортным банком Китайской Народной Республики, Открытие Центра автоматизированного управления дорожного движения «Безопасный город», Открытие Центра автоматизированного управления дорожного движения «Безопасный город», Отчет о состоянии государственного долга на 2015 год, Проекту «Безопасный город» — 5 лет. На дорогах Душанбе зафиксирован 1 миллион 730 тысяч 426 правонарушений, Таджикский парламент одобрил два кредитных соглашения с китайским «Эксимбанком»
华为助力塔吉克平安城市建设
塔媒：华为公司承建的“平安城市”项目增加塔财政收入760万美元 Loan applications and disbursements are still being received and processed as the projects continue to evolve. Ongoing monitoring and evaluation are in place to ensure project continuity.