US$95m draw down for PMIZ getting closer

THE drawing down of the US$95 million loan from the China Exim bank for the Pacific Marine Industrial Zone (PMIZ) project is a step closer following the signing of the supplementary agreement between main contractor, China Shenyang International Economic and Technical Cooperation Corporation (CSYIC) and the PNG government represented by the Department of Commerce and Industry in Manila, Philippines, last week.
Acting secretary for Commerce and Industry John Andrias, who signed the agreement, said the deal was necessary to enable the loan approval to finance the PMIZ pro­ject.
Andrias said in a statement yesterday that engineer Narciso Cauguiran Jr, the country manager for CYSIC, executed the supplementary agreement as the authorised representative for CYSIC and witnessed by Dr Wilfredo Hugo, of the Truk Pacifica Development Corporation, while he signed in his capacity as acting secretary for the department, and witnessed by State Solicitor George Minjihau.   
Included in the agreement was:
* The project period and defects liability – the project period shall be three and half  years, six months of which would be the design duration; 
* The performance se­curity and retention money security – the Chinese side shall provide performance security for the satisfactory   performance of the contract to the state within 30 days after the receipt of the notice to proceed among others; and 
* The project payment – the interest-free ad­vance payment shall be in an amount equivalent to 20% of the contract price US$95 million and shall be made to the Chinese firm when the loan agreement for the project en­tered into force and after the loan disbursement pre­requisites were satisfied.
The interim payment shall be paid monthly according to the actual confirmed quantity by the state.
The advance payment shall be repaid through 20% deductions from each interim payment certified by the state.