【英语科技】华为签下柬埔寨手机运营商大单

Cambodia’s largest mobile phone company will borrow $591m from Chinese banks to help pay for a contract with Huawei Technologies, the Chinese telecom group.

The loan, which will be the biggest financing project of its kind in Cambodia, underscores the growing influence of China and its companies in the country’s economy.

The flurry of Sino-Cambodian deals comes just three days after Hillary Clinton, US secretary of state, said during a visit to Phnom Penh, the capital, that Cambodia should maintain a foreign policy that was not “too dependent” on China.

CamGSM, the wholly owned telecom subsidiary of Royal Group, Cambodia’s largest private conglomerate, will sign a financing package arranged by Bank of China, and a five-year $500m equipment and services contract with Huawei in a ceremony that was scheduled for Thursday.

The ceremony in Phnom Penh will be attended by Wu Banguo, one of the nine most powerful men in China’s communist hierarchy. Other agreements, including large electricity deals involving Huadian, the Chinese state power producer, will be signed during Mr Wu’s visit.

Chinese companies have built much of Cambodia’s infrastructure and Beijing is one of its biggest aid donors. Diplomats and analysts say China’s influence on Cambodian affairs is growing, as evidenced by Cambodia’s decision to repatriate 20 Uighur asylum seekers to China last year after pressure from Beijing.

Two days after the deportations China signed $1.2bn worth of investments and aid agreements with Cambodia. The Uighurs feared they would be tortured or executed on their return to China.

The US called the deportation decision a “violation of Cambodia’s international obligations” and later suspended some military agreements with the country.

The finance and procurement deals to be signed between CamGSM, Bank of China and Huawei are not unusual for Chinese companies, which are looking for growth overseas, especially in emerging markets.

Chinese state-controlled banks regularly provide cheap financing for offshore expansion and Huawei has a $35bn standing credit line from China Development Bank. Huawei did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Royal Group will use part of the $591m loan to refinance a $421m bridging loan from Standard Bank and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, according to Mark Hanna, Royal Group’s chief financial officer. That loan helped Royal Group last year to buy the majority stake in CamGSM held by Luxembourg-based Millicom International Cellular, giving it 100 per cent control.

柬埔寨最大的移动通信运营商将向中资银行借贷5.91亿美元，用于帮助支付该公司与中国电信制造商华为技术(Huawei Technologies)签订的合同。

这将是柬埔寨同类项目中融资规模最大的一笔贷款，突显出中国及中国企业在柬埔寨经济中不断增长的影响力。

就在中柬签署一揽子交易三天前，美国国务卿希拉里?克林顿(Hillary Clinton)在访问柬埔寨首都金边期间表示，柬埔寨应当保持一种不“过于依赖”中国的外交政策。

柬埔寨最大民营企业集团“皇家集团”(Royal Group)旗下的电信子公司CamGSM在定于周四举行的一个仪式中，将签署由中国银行(Bank of China)安排的一套融资方案，以及与华为之间一份为期5年、价值5亿美元的设备及服务合同。

中共中央政治局九名常委之一的吴邦国将出席在金边举行的签字仪式。在吴邦国访问期间，两国还将签署其它一些协议，包括涉及中国国有电力企业华电(Huadian)的大宗电力协议。

中国企业为柬埔寨建造了大量基础设施，北京方面是柬埔寨最大的援助方之一。外交官和分析人士表示，中国对柬埔寨的影响力正不断上升，其例证之一是，去年在北京方面施压后，柬埔寨决定将20名维吾尔族庇护寻求者遣返中国。

执行遣返两天后，中国与柬埔寨签署了价值12亿美元的投资和援助协议。被遣返的维吾尔人担心自己被送回中国后，会遭到刑讯或处死。

美国当时称柬方的遣返决定“违反了柬埔寨的国际义务”，后来还暂停了美柬之间的一些军事协议。

CamGSM、中行和华为之间的融资和采购协议，对中国企业来说相当正常，中国企业正寻求在海外实现增长，尤其是在新兴市场。

国家控股的中国各银行经常提供廉价融资帮助企业海外扩张，华为在中国国家开发银行(CDB)安排了350亿美元的信贷额度。对于记者的置评请求，华为没有立即回应。

皇家集团首席财务官马克?汉纳(Mark Hanna)称，该集团将利用5.91亿美元贷款中的一部分资金，为来自标准银行(Standard Bank)和澳新银行(ANZ)的4.21亿美元过渡性贷款进行再融资。那笔贷款去年曾帮助皇家集团从卢森堡Millicom International Cellular收购CamGSM的多数股权，从而拥有100%的控制权。

译者/和风