China distances itself from Karibib road tender
Ambassador waxes lyrical about Chinese competence
China says it has little insight into how seven of its companies were shortlisted for the road in the Erongo Region.
The Chinese embassy says the upgrade of the Karibib-Usakos road is not funded by its government and thus did not participate in the process that saw seven Chinese companies being shortlisted for the job.
The Roads Authority, which owns the project, said it did not receive a significant number of bids from Namibian companies for the upgrade. Instead, only three Namibian companies showed interest in the bidding process, which is being financed by Germany's state development bank, KfW.
Roads Authority CEO Conrad Lutombi told Namibian Sun in May that since KfW is funding the road upgrade, it was the bank that set the requirements for companies participating in the project.
At a media engagement event at the embassy this week, Chinese ambassador Zhao Weiping said while he does not have insight into the process that shortlisted bidders for the upgrade, he could only think of the competitiveness of Chinese companies as reason for why all seven remaining in the race are from his country.
This follows recent uproar over the fact that none of the companies in contention are Namibian.
The lucky seven - China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, China Jiangxi International, China Railway Seventh, UNIK Construction, Zhongmei Engineering, China Henan International Corporation and Shandong Luqiao Group - were shortlisted in what the Metal and Allied Namibian Workers Union (Manwu) and the Construction Industries Federation described as exclusion of Namibian participation in the project.
The companies will vie for the N$300 million project funding provided by the KfW.
Market competition
Zhao told journalists: “It must be a result of market competition, and I think the relevant authorities have already made some explanation. I am sure it must be the result of market competition”.
Chinese companies were doing their part to uphold the law when bidding for projects, he hastened to add.
“For every commercial or business transaction taking place, it must be done at least as it is required to be done in accordance with your laws and regulations,” he said.
The bias against the shortlisted companies was further unjustified, Zhao added.
“For the case you mentioned, of course people just feel ‘why [do] these bidders qualify to participate in the bidding; why are all these Chinese companies [involved].”
Foreign money, foreign rules
Last month, Lutombi said: “What happened is we ran a pre-qualification tender and it was in terms of KfW’s rules. It was open to international companies and not only Namibian companies. In total, 17 companies tendered and, out of this, there were only three Namibian companies - in joint ventures.
“When dealing with foreign finances, they have their own procurement rules and then bids run internationally,” he added.
Namibian companies will still benefit from the project as they will be afforded 25% of the value of the project to complete, he said.
“For the seven companies that qualified, it will be a mandatory requirement that four companies will participate with whomever wins this bid. Out of the total, 25% of the project’s cost is for Namibian contractors.
“The winning bidder will get the bid on the basis that four Namibian contractors are involved,” he said.
The Roads Authority, which owns the project, said it did not receive a significant number of bids from Namibian companies for the upgrade. Instead, only three Namibian companies showed interest in the bidding process, which is being financed by Germany's state development bank, KfW.
Roads Authority CEO Conrad Lutombi told Namibian Sun in May that since KfW is funding the road upgrade, it was the bank that set the requirements for companies participating in the project.
At a media engagement event at the embassy this week, Chinese ambassador Zhao Weiping said while he does not have insight into the process that shortlisted bidders for the upgrade, he could only think of the competitiveness of Chinese companies as reason for why all seven remaining in the race are from his country.
This follows recent uproar over the fact that none of the companies in contention are Namibian.
The lucky seven - China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, China Jiangxi International, China Railway Seventh, UNIK Construction, Zhongmei Engineering, China Henan International Corporation and Shandong Luqiao Group - were shortlisted in what the Metal and Allied Namibian Workers Union (Manwu) and the Construction Industries Federation described as exclusion of Namibian participation in the project.
The companies will vie for the N$300 million project funding provided by the KfW.
Market competition
Zhao told journalists: “It must be a result of market competition, and I think the relevant authorities have already made some explanation. I am sure it must be the result of market competition”.
Chinese companies were doing their part to uphold the law when bidding for projects, he hastened to add.
“For every commercial or business transaction taking place, it must be done at least as it is required to be done in accordance with your laws and regulations,” he said.
The bias against the shortlisted companies was further unjustified, Zhao added.
“For the case you mentioned, of course people just feel ‘why [do] these bidders qualify to participate in the bidding; why are all these Chinese companies [involved].”
Foreign money, foreign rules
Last month, Lutombi said: “What happened is we ran a pre-qualification tender and it was in terms of KfW’s rules. It was open to international companies and not only Namibian companies. In total, 17 companies tendered and, out of this, there were only three Namibian companies - in joint ventures.
“When dealing with foreign finances, they have their own procurement rules and then bids run internationally,” he added.
Namibian companies will still benefit from the project as they will be afforded 25% of the value of the project to complete, he said.
“For the seven companies that qualified, it will be a mandatory requirement that four companies will participate with whomever wins this bid. Out of the total, 25% of the project’s cost is for Namibian contractors.
“The winning bidder will get the bid on the basis that four Namibian contractors are involved,” he said.
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