(Manila Standard via NewsEdge) ZTE, a Chinese government-owned company listed in the Hong Kong and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges, defended y its controversial $329.5-million deal with the Philippine government for the national broadband network project.
The Chinese firm made the statement amid the clamor of a business group for a review of the provisions of the contract to determine whether the country needs such a project in the first place.
After keeping mum about the controversy, Transportation Secretary Leandro Mendoza said last week that the original copy of the contract was stolen, fuelling suspicion that the Department of Transportation and Communications was trying to hide details of the agreement.
The contract has been under question for being sealed without the benefit of a competitive bidding process as required by the Government Procurement Reform Act.
Mendoza claimed that Emmanuel Ang, the country's commercial attaché to China, lost the document to thieves at a hotel in China on April 21.
In a statement, ZTE defended the national broadband network project, saying it sought to narrow the development gap between the rich and the poor by setting up an integrated nationwide communications network.
However, US Ambassador Kristie Kenney asked Mendoza to explain why it favored the Chinese company when an American firm, Arescom, offered to undertake the project for half the cost.
Another bidder, Amsterdam Holdings, is also hurling similar accusation against the contract.
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