Three Gorges to draw international tenders

Business Asia, August 17, 1998

A massive tender for transformers and other equipment for the giant Three Gorges Project in China is ready for domestic and international tenders.

The new tender will include 15 transformers, gas-insulated switching gear, and other equipment to be used in the power house of the project.

The Three Gorges International Tendering Company (TGT) will invite tenders for the deal late this year or at the beginning of next year.

The US$24 billion Three Gorges Dam, expected to be completed in 2009, is perhaps the biggest engineering project in history.

TGT will give priority to domestic products if their quality can fully satisfy the demands of the project. But some key appliances, including large transformers, will be purchased from international bidders.

Meanwhile, the World Bank has approved four loans to China totalling US$600 million for projects improving urban transport in Guangzhou City, upgrading inland waterways in Jiangsu and Guangdong provinces, providing earthquake reconstruction assistance in Heibei, and furthering development to the National Highway project in Hubei.

A US$200 million loan will help Guangzhou city address its problem of severe traffic congestion caused by years of under-investment combined with high economic growth.

The project will incorporate a ring road and employ traffic management practices to conform with international good practice -- including junction improvements, pedestrian crossings, sidewalks, bus lanes, bicycle routes, and traffic signal equipment.

A US$123 million loan will help China establish more efficient and productive inland waterways transport services that would be competitive among alternative transport modes -- such as rail and road-in Guangdong and Jiangsu provinces.

A US$28.4 million International Development Association (IDA) credit will assist in the restoration of economic and social activities in China's northwest Hebei Province, whose Zhangjiakou Municipality was severely hit this past January by a powerful earthquake.