GLOBALISING TRENDS IN BOT PROJECTS IN EAST ASIA

 

 

 

 

 

This paper is directed to globalising trends in build own operate transfer (“BOT”) projects which may take place in East Asia[1] over the next decade.

 

There are a number of infrastructure projects lining up for East Asia over the next ten years[2]. In fact, to date, we have seen relatively few successful BOT projects across East Asia[3]. It seems certain that the number of BOT projects in the region will increase dramatically over the next decade for reasons including the current, depressed economic conditions in the respective host countries, yet a huge, immediate need for infrastructure projects across the region, the desire of major international consortia (predominantly, Japanese, US, European, Australian…..) to promote projects for their own commercial/investment reasons, and the likelihood (as has been observed in Australia since 1989) that the successful completion of BOT projects in the region will progressively lower the transaction costs/hurdles for such projects.

 

BOT projects, by their nature, require multiple, complex inter-dependent agreements, between multiple private sector and public sector parties. On BOT projects across East Asia, in addition to the usual issues which arise in providing for long term projects, the project agreements are likely to be affected by several further factors:

 

·         the trend towards globalisation of law[4]

·         a move/desire towards trade law harmonisation across the region[5]

·         the depressed economic conditions across East Asia[6]

·         varying quality of host country legal systems, including BOT legislation and procedures, across the region[7]

The thesis of this paper is that BOT project agreements will evolve, across the region, with substantive common features, including dispute regimes, because of parties common to the transactions, and the experience derived from completed projects, but with idiosyncratic changes on a country by country basis to reflect matters such as culture, economy, variation in legal systems, politics….

 

1.         BOT PROJECTS IN EAST ASIA

 

1.1       The Nature of BOT Projects

 

The fundamental basis for build own operate transfer projects is the introduction of private sector investment into public sector projects.  A government agency with a desire to deliver infrastructure services contracts with a private sector sponsor to obtain the concession, build the infrastructure facility, own the infrastructure facility for an agreed period (potentially up to 30-40 years), operate and maintain the infrastructure facility during the concession period, and, at the end of the period, transfer the infrastructure facility to the government agency.[8]

 

There are several features special to BOT projects over and above other major construction projects, supply projects, pipeline projects, or other major contracted works, which arise because of the nature of a BOT project.  Those features include[9]:

 

·         there are multiple project agreements, all required to be inter-dependent;

·         there are multiple parties, each requiring contractual rights and remedies in relation to every other party;

·         the projects deal with publicly-owned infrastructure;

·         the contracts are required to operate over very long periods (possibly up to 30-40 years or, conceivably, longer);

·         the financing of the projects is, usually, critically related to the tax regime of the host country;

·         enforceability of the contractual rights is required against, potentially, government agencies of the host countries;

·         typically, large sums are usually involved.

 

The dispute provisions, historically, on Australian projects, have tended to be silent.  The contracts involving multiple parties, and each of the contracts being interdependent on other contracts, an arbitration clause, in a country where there is perceived to be an adequate court system, is usually not the preferred option.[10] In BOT projects where international parties are involved, and rights may need to be enforced against host countries where the local legal system may not be so well accepted by the international parties, arbitration clauses have been universally adopted.[11]

 

The types of disputes which might need to be resolved, potentially, in international BOT projects could include any or all of the following:

 

·         tariff adjustment provisions (relating, for example, to legislative changes, delays by the government agency,…);

·         late delivery;

·         under performance;

·         long term actions potentially affecting demand;

·         maintenance failure;

·         financial default;

·         environmental damage;

·         property issues.

These disputes could potentially occur over periods, up to 30 to 40 years, from the time the project documents were executed. Typical possibilities for dispute mechanisms in project agreements comprising such projects might include any or all of litigation, arbitration, mediation, structured meetings between high ranking executives from particular organisations, and other ADR possibilities. Certain of the project agreements might also include specific dispute resolution mechanisms (for example, the construction contract might include a dispute panel[12], a dispute prevention panel[13], a proof checker[14], etc.).

These dispute regime questions are likely to be affected, project by project, by factors such as culture, economy, variable legal systems, politics….

1.2       The Backdrop to BOT Projects in East Asia

Infrastructure has been delivered through BOT projects in Australia since 1989-90.[15]  Since that time there have been of the order of 100 major BOT projects in Australia. Interestingly, the rise of BOT projects in Australia coincided with the dramatic fall of the property market, and the economic down turn generally.  It seems that the BOT style of project became popular when major contractors had little work in their order books, and governments had little capital funds available for needed infrastructure projects.[16]

 

In contrast to Australia, the USA started performing infrastructure projects in the late 1970’s following US Federal legislation[17] introduced by the Carter Administration compelling private sector investment in certain utility projects, with the aim of introducing private sector efficiencies into public sector projects.

 

Over the last decade, in East Asia, the number of infrastructure projects was not, perhaps, as high as might have been predicted.[18] This was probably due to the complexities in promoting such projects, and successfully negotiating the substantial government processes involved.[19] Since the Asian economic crash, it appears now even more likely that the need for infrastructure services is only likely to be fulfilled by the infrastructure of private sector investment to deliver those projects.  In most instances, that private sector investment would come from outside the host country.

 

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT)[20] in a report dated 28 October 1998 comments that for private sector infrastructure investors to become interested in Asian BOT projects, governments will need “increased transparency and (more) certain legal environments…and regulatory frameworks….”.[21] The DFAT report comments that countries with Anglo-US law systems such as Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia provide best practice examples of transparent and predictable legal systems which provides certainty for private infrastructure investors.

 

The DFAT report notes that, to overcome gaps in those regulatory environments, several East Asian countries have recently introduced specific legislation most notedly BOT laws to promote and regulate private sector infrastructure.[22]


The extent of private sector infrastructure investment in East Asia is set out on a country by country basis as Appendix 1.1 to the report.  That table suggests, in brief:

 

·         little substantive investment in Singapore, Korea and Taiwan through the period 1995-1998;

·         substantive private sector investment in public infrastructure in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, China, Hong Kong and the Philippines during the period 1995-1998;

·         the substantive investment in Indonesia, China and Philippines was in the energy sector;

·         the figures, even through the South East Asia economic crisis, are substantial (of the order of $8 billion dollars in 1995, $36 billion dollars in 1996, $17 and $14 billion dollars in 1997 and 1998 respectively.

·         In recent years, there have been a number of major power projects in Vietnam[23]. 

·         Japan has a strong involvement in BOT projects in East Asia, as a participant[24] but not (yet) as a host country.

 

 

The report sets out the basic information as to the risks to be addressed within BOT projects and briefly addresses the need of adequate dispute resolution mechanism within the BOT projects to give comfort to foreign investors.

 

There is substantial experience on the negotiation and documentation of BOT projects in USA, Australia, Europe, Hong Kong and other countries where, it may be fair to say, the traditional legal systems are reasonably well developed and substantially reliable.  In East Asia, by comparison, these projects are to be performed in countries whose legal systems are, presently, highly variable in quality.

 

 

2.         FACTORS AFFECTING THE FORM OF EAST ASIAN BOT PROJECTS

 

The evolution of BOT projects in South-East and North Asia is unlikely to be uniform. It is likely to be affected by many factors, which will have a varying influence on a country by country basis. Those factors will include:

 

2.1       Globalisation of Legal Services/Harmonisation of Laws in BOT Projects?

The trend towards globalisation of economies, globalisation of trade and, in particular, globalisation of law, is likely to be observed in BOT projects across East Asia.

 

Shapiro[25] describes globalisation of law as “some movement towards a relatively uniform global contract and commercial law”[26].  He suggests, as do other commentators[27], that Anglo-US law will have a substantive effect on law as it evolves in less-developed countries. He comments:

 

“…this globalisation of law through private corporate law making rather naturally takes the form of the global Americanization of commercial law”[28]

 

This, it is submitted, is likely to be true, more than ever, in the development of BOT projects. There is a substantial body of experience on BOT projects in the USA dating back to the late 1970’s[29].  Indeed, this is what we have seen in the Australian context.  The 100 or so BOT projects which have been documented and executed in Australia since 1990 have been substantially based on the American style of BOT project.

 

Shapiro notes, further, that there has been a substantial increase in the sheer volume and penetration of law across the world.  He refers to this as a “global acceleration of law and lawyers”[30].  He notes that some countries, in particular Japan, have attempted, through draconian measures, shut their citizens off from lawyers and courts[31].  He concludes, however, that the globalisation of markets, even in those nations, has been such that many countries will inevitably become parties to international transactions, and will need and acquire legal services as necessary.[32]

 

Shapiro suggests that China may be an exception to this rule.  He notes that China has traditionally had a legal system which was both complex and theoretically all embracing, where the law was implemented almost wholly without lawyers and certainly without a private professional bar.[33] It seems fair to say, however, that, in major transactions, the non-involvement of lawyers, both local and international in China, however, is unlikely to occur[34], and certainly not in the area of BOT projects[35].

 

Cate[36], in an article directed to intellectual property rather than globalisation of law per se, comments that the economic significance and inherently global nature of digital information poses extraordinary challenges to the power of national governments to regulate (their) ownership and use[37].  He comments that, in fact, the globalisation of information challenges are such that individual countries are restricted to some extent in their ability to pursue other objectives with their intellectual property laws[38]. He concludes that we are presently witnessing a globalisation of intellectual property regulation in a “near futile effort” to keep pace with the globalisation of information, with significant ramifications for national sovereignty.[39]

 

Verzola[40] discusses globalisation in the context of colonialism in the South-East Asian region. He describes the “first wave” of globalisation as the period of colonization where countries of superior military might forcibly imposed rule over the colonies, that military conquest being followed by the imposition of new religions and cultures: “we bring you Christianity….we bring you civilization…we will teach you democracy”[41].  He suggests that the “second wave” of globalisation was the range of anti-colonial responses, including successful armed revolutions (as in the Philippines), peaceful withdrawal of colonial forces (as in Malaysia, India…), and independence movements (as in China). During this phase, Verzola suggests, direct control was replaced by cultural control: “we bring jobs” “we bring technology” “we will lend you money for development” “we will protect you from communism”….[42] Verzola suggest that the global information economy represents the “third wave of globalisation”[43]. 

 

Barber[44] relates the globalisation of law to the spread of democracy.  He describes the forces of globalisation “pressing nations into one commercially homogeneous global network, one McWorld tied together by technology, ecology, communications and commerce”[45].

 

Delbruck[46] comments that for more than a century an increasing number of domestic/national matters have become “internationalized”.  He notes, for example, greenhouse effect issues, which are now of global significance, international rather than national concern, since they affect humankind everywhere.[47]  Delbruch refers to the “globalizing forces in the market”[48], in particular GATT, the World Bank, the IMF, OECD…. but notes that such forces apply only to “the sunny side of the globe..”.[49]

 

Perry[50] refers to the Sri Lankan experience to examine whether, in fact, the globalisation of law is a feasible possibility in countries with “developing legal systems”. He notes the difficulty for globalisation of law where there is inaccessibility to local laws, ambiguous, untested and conflicting law, bureaucratic inconsistency, judicial impartiality, court delays, corruption, and political interference. Perry concludes: “Current efforts to achieve legal globalisation will not be successful while international legislators fail to acknowledge the individual quirks of national legal systems.”[51]

 

Hirst[52] comments that globalisation is not new. He downplays the views that international capital does not seem to have flown, in the face of international de-regulation, to markets of low wages, that multi-nationals seem, in reality, to be substantially based in their own countries, and that globalisation has not swept away national economies.

 

Weiss[53] also concludes that the proponents of globalisation overstate the effect of the changes in the world economy, and understate the variety and adaptability of state capacities. She suggests that the hypothesis: weak globalisation (strong internationalisation); state power reduced in scope.[54]

 

Ryland[55] comments that the legal systems in the East Asian region are not as integrated as in Europe or North America, and that significant differences are likely to persist shaped by social factors which are likely to continue to be different in each country.  Ryland suggests that one of the critical areas in which cross-border remedies are likely to be critical will be major projects with multiple parties, for example infrastructure projects.  Ryland notes the current harmonization initiatives in the region, including recognition and enforcement of foreign judgements, foreign arbitral awards, service and evidence, and regulatory co-operation, and calls for, consistent with Dr. Mochtar’s[56] comments in the same seminar, greater support for further harmonisation initiatives in the region. He suggests that such initiatives might include, for example, a forum established under the auspices of APEC.

 

Berger[57] in a review of international arbitral practice and the UNIDROIT principles of international commercial contracts, comments that over the last decade the unification  law has become privatized through a restatement-like set of rules and principles, drafted like black letter law, but issued by a private working group of specialist practitioners and academics rather than by convention or model law[58].

 

Berger asks the question whether this approach is the correct way to achieve the degree of harmonisation and unification of international contract law necessary to tackle problems of international trade commerce.  He concludes that the UINDROIT principles of international commercial contracts have furnished international arbitrators with a practical tool for comparative decision making[59].  He suggests that the increasing reference of international arbitrators to the principles promotes the development of genuine transnational case law of international tribunals.


Dezalay and Garth[60] have been involved over several years in a long term project entitled, “Constructing an International Legal Order and Transforming the State”.  The authors have concluded 300 interviews with international legal practitioners and other participants culminating in a series of articles and a book entitled Dealing In Virtue; International Commercial Arbitration and the Construction of a Transnational Legal Order.

 

Dezalay and Garth describe how an elite group of transnational lawyers constructed an innovative legal field which has given them a central and powerful role in the global market place. Their thesis is that developments in the transnational sphere (the human rights movement, new trade regimes in NAFTA and GATT, the so called third world debt crisis, the spread of business law firms and “global” law schools…) are part of a process transformed by institutions and rules, national and transnational, that govern at the national level.

 

In a 1995 paper[61], Dezalay and Garth concluded that there was a group of international lawyers who regularly became involved in international commercial arbitrations, to the point where they controlled that area of law and its development. 

 

Dezalay and Garth subsequently extended their enquiry, to examine other phenomena leading to the movement of capital into Hong Kong and China[62].

 

Appelbaum[63] rejects the notion that: “….western business and legal practices are becoming universal as a consequence either of the globalisation of capital or the diffusion of professional training and norms..”.[64] He suggests that the rise of the East Asian economies, especially China, may lead to the decline of North American and European global economic dominance and its associated legal forms.

 

Appelbaum takes issue with Dezalay and Garth[65] in relation to their thesis that the spread of Anglo-US law firms into Hong Kong and China, as had occurred in Europe before, will have the effect of spreading western legal practices into those markets. Appelbaum disagrees with the Dezalay and Garth reasoning that neither Confucianism (with its hostility to lawyers and confrontation) nor communism (with its emphasis on party rule) afford cultural barriers to the adoption of western legal practices in China and Hong Kong[66].

 

Appelbaum expresses the view that the Chinese culture of guanxi is substantially embedded in those markets, and as such we are more likely to observe, over time, legal practices dominated by regimes of “flexible accommodation….(which) would seem to have an affinity for the informality and personal networks long associated with Chinese businesses“.[67]

 

2.2       Trade Linkages?

 

The concept that linkages between trade and various areas of social concern are able to be observed was discussed, in general terms in a conference reported in the University of Pennsylvania Journal of international economic law[68].

 

Garcia[69] comments that the fact of linkages between trade and other areas of social concern is not new, referring to previous papers in relation to trade and labour rights, trade and public health, trade and human rights, etc. He suggests that the “the trade linkage phenomena is changing not only the way we understand trade law and policy, but also the formulation and direction of trade policy itself”.[70]

 

Garcia[71] comments that the recognition of particular trade links (for example, linkages between trade and human rights, linkages between trade and environment…) affect the way we negotiate and design trade rules, the role and nature of international economic law institutions’ response to linkage issues, the extent to which the international trading system upholds or defeats basic democratic values and calls into questions or affirms its own legitimacy, and the manner in which international economic law is taught in the class room[72].

 

In the same seminar, Charnovitz[73] agrees that the use of trade agreements as a vehicle to agree upon non-trade issues is an old phenomena.  He suggests that the practice was probably reflective of a view of trade as being one of many issues of international concern[74].  He refers to the example of policy intervention by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.  The intervention, through trade means, in the economies of particular countries is but one example of the trade linkage phenomena. He notes the traditional reasons for trade linkages to be enhancement of policy effectiveness, to rebalance policy spillovers induced by new treaties, to build coalitions either domestically or internationally, to gain economies of scale[75].

 

2.3       The Asian Crisis

 

Before the recent Asian economic crisis, the region was sometimes referred to as the “South East Asian miracle”. Anderson[76] suggests that there were four basic conditions for the South East Asian miracle which preceded the current economic crisis:

 

1.       The geographic arc of the Cold War in relation to the region.

2.       The region’s geographical propinquity to Japan (in the early 1970’s, Japan had become the single most important external investor in the region.)

3.       The success of the communist movement in China, which had the effect of keeping China from playing a significant economic role in or competition with South East Asia until the middle 1980’s.

4.       In the late 19th century millions of young, mostly male, mostly illiterate people left the Chinese regions of Fukien and Kwantang for the labour-hungry European colonies in South East Asia and Siam. This resulted in minority Chinese communities in those countries, who tended to be excluded from positions of government, university, etc. Those Chinese minority communities tended to concentrate on the private commercial sector, legal and otherwise.[77]

 

Katzenstein[78] suggests that there is now the emerging region of East Asia, in addition to America and Europe. He comments that the massive inflow of Japanese investments in recent years has aggravated severe bottlenecks in the public sector infrastructures of countries like Indonesia and Thailand.  Those bottlenecks are, in fact, turning out to be a serious impediment for a future growth of Japanese investment in those countries.[79]

 

Katzentein suggests that increased Asian region co-operation appears to be an idea whose time has come, at least in terms of public debate, and that inter-regional corporation is potentially a necessary response to the process of European integration as well as to the US-Canada free trade agreement, soon to be joined by Mexico. He also observes, however, the sharp growth in Japanese influence and power in Asia (the total GNP of the East Asian region amounts to less than 10% of Japan’s GNP).  Accordingly, it may be that the other Asian countries see the US as an indispensable counterweight to Japan’s growing power.[80]

 

Bello[81] notes that with the encouragement of the IMF and the World Bank, many Asian countries followed a three point strategy for attracting foreign couple; liberalization of the foreign financial sector, eliminating restrictions on capital flows, maintenance of high domestic interest rates in order to attract portfolio investment and bank capital, and pegging the national currency to the dollar to reassure foreign investors against currency risk.[82]  Bello notes the IMF even revised its articles of association to expand its jurisdiction in relation to the liberalization of capital sector within the affected countries.

 

Khor[83] comments that the East Asia economic crisis is probably the most important economic event in the region in the past few decades and for the next few decades. He notes that most commentators, though differing in their analysis of the reasons, causes, and solutions, all agree that the economic crisis is likely to last substantially longer than first thought.  He suggests that the events leading to the crisis included financial liberalization, currency depreciation and debt crisis, local asset boon and bust and liquidity squeeze, and easing of fiscal and monetary policy.

 

Khor notes that the three countries under IMF direction have gone into deep recession (Indonesia, Thailand, South Korea).  He suggests that the East Asian crisis has shown that there is a need to regulate the global financial system, that we need to know the major institutions and players who own financial assets and their behaviour and operational methods and the markets that they operate in, and that the one great lesson from the crisis is the critical importance for developing countries to properly manage interface between global developments and national policies, especially in planning a nations financial system and policy.[84]

 

Lim[85] comments that within Asia the economic crisis had not only serious domestic, social, political and economic impact, but it had affected international relations as well as intellectual and policy discourse[86].  Lim notes that, as a general proposition, besides the revaluation and austerity reforms, “structural  reforms” are usually part of IMF policy conditions[87].  Such structural reforms usually include trade liberalization, investment liberalization, financial sector reforms to reduce debt burdens and attract capital.  Financial sector reforms, privatization of state enterprises and dismantling of private as well as public sector monopolies to reduce government expenditure, increase efficiency and attract new capital.

 

Lim suggests that, once Asia recovers from the current crisis, its longer term economic prospects remain the brightest in the world[88].  He refers to the region’s natural resources, big population (labour and market), low current levels of income and consumption, small governments, flexible wages, high savings and favourable demographics.   Lim suggests that the policies adopted through the economic crisis will, in fact, encourage better channeling of foreign investment into Asian investments[89].

 

He notes, however, that Asian governments may, as a consequence of such restructure, “fear losing national sovereignty not only in terms of ownership and control their own economies, financial systems and enterprises, but also in terms of political and social autonomy and cultural integrity”.[90]

 

Lim also notes the efforts to strengthen region economic linkages, for example the ASEAN countries advancing their proposed inaugural date of their regional free trade area by one year to 2002.  This, Lim says, is in an effort to enhance their attractiveness as a region to foreign investors.

 

Wade[91] suggests that we may be on the verge of a world slump.  He suggests that the intensification of insecurity and poverty that confronts hundreds of millions of people in Asia makes this one of the worse economic calamities of the 20th century.  He also suggests that abrupt shift to negative growth in what had been the world’s faster growing region has sent a contractionary wave coursing through the world economy setting off a cycle of events elsewhere.[92]

 

Wade suggests that the crisis was one of global crisis management.  He comments that in Asia the IMF not only lead but in effect monopolized the international rescue effort, with little regional co-ordination with the World Bank and Asian Development Bank in a subordinate role[93].

 

Wade concludes that Asia is moving strongly towards capital controls and that there are good theoretical reasons why it should.[94] Effectively US funds are to be withheld from the IMF until all seven countries have agreed to require the fund to withhold loans from current countries that fail to meet certain conditions (to eliminate government-subsidized credit to “favoured” businesses or institutions…, to liberalize restrictions on both trade and investment….)

 

It is interesting to note a recent comment from Noah Chomsky recalling that when the US took over Cuba 100 years ago, it cancelled Cuba’s debt to Spain on the grounds that the burden was “imposed upon the people of Cuba without their consent and by force of arm”.  Such debts were later called “odious debt” by legal scholarship. The same doctrine was invoked 25 years later when Costa Rica cancelled the debt of its former dictator to the Royal Bank of Canada, the US Supreme Court Chief Justice William Taft, in arbitration, ultimately concluded that the bank had lent the money for “no legitimate use” so its claim for payment must fail. Chomsky suggests that the logic extends to much current international debt as “odious debt….with no legal or moral standing, imposed upon people without their consent, often serving to repress and enrich their masters.”[95]

 

The effect of the crisis, therefore, has been to introduce, into the region, substantial structural reform, to encourage international investment, to enhance local enforcement regimes for the benefit of foreign investors, and to remove much of the locally corrupted practices involving private and government monopolies. Clearly, the reforms will have critical relevance to future BOT projects.

 

2.4       APEC, the IMF, the World Bank and other International Organisations

 

Berger[96] notes the debate as to whether APEC is “an important vehicle for regional integration and economic prosperity” in the South East Asia region or, alternatively is “an important vehicle for maintaining and extending US influence in the region”[97]  He suggests that the latter interpretation highlights the way in which Anglo-US liberalism has been increasingly challenged by influential East Asia narratives.  He suggests this challenge to Anglo-US liberalism, and to US predominance in the region more generally, is due to the resurgence of Japan and growing integration of countries in North East and South East Asia into a complex network presided over by Japanese based multi-national corporations.[98] 

 

Berger suggests that significant recent changes have included the rise of Japan and China as powers in the region, and a move away from US centered cold war hegemony towards significantly reconfigured relationships between the major powers in the context of wider global shifts.  He suggests that these global changes include an increased role for international financial institutions and trans-national corporations, and the dramatic internationalization of production, trade and finance, with important changes, and a changing role for, territorial states.[99] 

 

Berger traces the emergence of APEC out of previous moves including the creation of the Asian Development Bank in 1966 (primarily under the auspices of the Japanese government), the creation of SEATO in 1954 and the Asian and Pacific Council, neither of which organisation lasted beyond the 1970’s, and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).  He notes the Japanese government proposal for a Pacific Free Trade area in 1967 which did not gain general acceptance but did lead to the foundation of the Pacific Basin Economic Council (PBEC) in 1967.  He also notes the rise of Pacific Economic Co-operation Conference (PECC), producing reports and recognitions, but not binding. 

Subsequently APEC had its founding meeting in 1989 and subsequent meetings in Seattle in 1993 and Bogor, Indonesia in November 1994.  Further meetings lead to the action agenda, at Osaka in November 1995, leading to verbal assurances by the representatives of all member governments that they would make every effort to meet the economic liberalization goals of APEC.

 

In a recent report, the Asia Development Bank (ADB) announced that it intends to take on a higher profile to assert its premier position in the region by taking a more aggressive stance by financing to crisis-borrowers.[100]  In particular, the ADB intends to promote financial guarantee programs to Asian companies and projects that might otherwise be difficult and expensive to finance.  At its recent annual meeting, the ADB underlined the importance of credit enhancement to Asian borrowers.  The ADB intends to provide instruments to provide political risk coverage in project finance deals.  The bank received an additional of US$3 billion from the Japanese government this year to support loans on an untied basis to borrowers in countries worst hit by the economic crisis.

 

Chirathivat[101] reviews the history of ASEAN and APEC and suggests that East Asia as a regional grouping is being regarded as one of the most successful exercises in the developing countries.   He suggests that APEC is very much the future economic forum for the region.  He notes the Bogor declaration which set the vision of APEC on trade liberalization of the year 2010 for developed economies and 2020 for developing economies, followed by investment liberalization, trade and investment facilitation, with a view to increased business, and strengthening economic and technical co-operation.[102].

 

Nottage[103] reviews the 1992 PECC Harmonisation Proposal, discussed in Canberra (1992) and Singapore (1993) and suggests that the benefits of adopting such trade law instruments were perceived as greater certainty for traders and thus reduced cross-border transaction costs, greater enforceability of an arbitral award, and attraction of keeping arbitrations in the region.

 

The World Bank[104] has noted (though the comments were not directed to the East Asian sector) that “low quality and high costs of infrastructure services” were the principal problems to development and equitable income growth[105].

 

Arrow-Smith[106] in a new book entitled Public Procurement; Global Revolution notes public procurement reform in developing and transitional countries (in particular with reference to the UNCITRAL model law on procurement of goods, construction and services), and notes the significant procurement legislation in states where no procurement legislation previously existed.

 

Bolmin[107] reviews the increasing private sector involvement in the financing of previously public infrastructure work in the areas of electricity, telephone, water, transport…  He notes the PPI initiative (private participation in infrastructure) of the World Bank, largely inspired by the American and British experience of de-regulation and privatization. Bolmin suggests that the purpose of co-development is to define the operational terms of the partnership needed between the public and private sectors to ensure the success of major infrastructure projects.  He suggests that the PPI principles proposed by the World Bank are vague and have resulted in lesser projects being built then might otherwise have occurred.

 

2.5       Dealing with Cultural Differences

 

Cultural issues in international BOT projects remain a critical factor (in fact, they are of primary significance….in competition with the factors of globalisation, harmonisation …..).

 

Shibasasaki[108] suggests that Japanese society is “very different” from Western countries. He expresses concern that this may result in a “decrease in efforts to achieve mutual understanding”. He comments that western individualism does not exist in Japan. He notes that contracts are not widely used in Japanese society, and notes that the Japanese government emphasizes the traditional “harmony” or “peace” (“wa”).

 

Rahn[109] comments on the plurality of human cultures showing the potential inherent in every human being. He notes the Roman law concept of individualistic legal relationships, and Japanese notion of giri, a “moral obligation to loyalty incurred by special favour which is borne by the beneficiary until he has satisfied it by a definite but unspecified act of gratitude”.[110]

 

Gibson[111] suggests that resolution of cross cultural issues are intimately connected with communication issues.  Gibson suggests that communication will depend on the source, the content and the style, the cultural differences between the communication of the message and the channels through which messages are communicated.

 

Gibson refers to members of cultures such as those found in Indonesia, China, Japan, South America, India and Pakistan who tend to exhibit high power distance and in relation to research suggests that communicators would be more likely to use formal channels of communication rather than informal channels of communication. In contrast, members of society in the USA, Canada, Germany and Australia tend to view unequal power distribution as unacceptable and, accordingly, communications within these low power distance cultures are expected to depend more often on informal channels of communications than on formal channels of communication. 

 

Gibson suggests[112] that some research suggests that sharing of culture beliefs is not always essential to successful communication.  Gibson refers to five phases of communication: encouraging, transmitting, receiving, decoding and feedback. 

Chatman[113] defines negotiation as “the deliberate interaction of two or more social units which are attempting to define or redefine the terms of their interdependence”.[114]  Chatman concludes that communication scholarship sets out a perspective for understanding the negotiation process, for examining bargaining interaction as a system, and for exploring the micro elements and subtleties that frequently alter the course of negotiations.[115]

 

Chen[116] suggests that our understanding of the connection between culture and co-operation, and its implications for organisation of behaviour, is just beginning to develop.  Chen concludes that comparative knowledge yielded from new research will provide a more valid base for initiating inter cultural co-operation.  Further, various degrees of mutual adaptation and signage may occur especially in multi-cultural groups, that it is possible that new types of co-operation mechanisms may emerge to coincide with the mergers of a “third culture” (for example, a multi-national team of individualists and collectivists may develop a third culture of communalism in which there is a dual emphasis and balance on both the individual and collective rationality and on both individuality and sociality).

 

Greenwood[117] analyzes the relationship between cultural identities and the global political economy in terms of anthropology and concludes that the United States society is likely to experience increased international economic restructuring in which the US is an important but not dominant player.  He suggests that the US will enter an area in which international organisations are involved increasingly in administering and adjudicating a wide variety of cultural claims for rights, goods and safety.

 

Salacuse[118] discusses the notion of working with foreign partners and notes the international construction industry has developed an important form of deal-managing mediation that employs a designated third person, often a consulting engineer to resolve disputes which may arise in the course of a major construction project.  The construction contract will designate a person to act as a review board, a permanent referee or dispute adviser, and to handle disputes as they arise in a way that will allow the construction work to continue.[119]


2.6       Enforceability of Foreign Investment Disputes – The Key Issue?

 

Bailey[120] reviews the possible role for APEC in international commercial arbitrations leading to APEC’s dispute mediation experts’ group and adoption of a series of principles in its meetings, most recently in Singapore in April 1997.  Bailey suggests that some of this work may have been repetitious of work previously done by UNCITRAL, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), and various arbitral and other dispute resolution bodies. 

 

Bailey reinforces the need for investors to have adequate enforcement regimes: “…Businessmen have always been ready to accept a commercial risk inherent in a foreign transaction.  On the other hand the businessman, weighing his decision to put money to work in foreign parts of the world, at least seeks a climate of fair play.  It is the political climate which concerns him.  Therefore, if the investor believes he can secure impartial resolution of any dispute arising with the host state, this may be enough to warrant his risk”.[121] 

 

Bailey suggests the factors to provide the test for appropriateness of a country as a forum for holding an arbitration including quality of the law of the jurisdiction as regards to arbitration, whether or not the municipal court system or the jurisdiction is supportive of arbitration, whether the jurisdiction allows enforcement of relevant arbitral awards, whether there is a supportive arbitration culture, transparency, and whether the doctrine of sovereign immunity still applies to regular commercial transactions.

 

Bailey notes that the 18 member countries of APEC present a mixed picture.  Though most jurisdictions are parties to the New York convention and the ICSID convention, there are problems as to the quality of the domestic arbitration law as regards international commercial arbitration.[122]  Bailey notes that the number of investment disputes is increasing in particular that references under ICSID are growing.  Bailey concludes that efficiency and cost are highly relevant considerations to business interests in dispute resolution.  He suggests that this is the basis for increased focus of case management, mediation and cost reduction.

 

China has an established arbitration centre with established rules based in most respects on arbitration rules commonly in place in Anglo-US legal systems.[123] Vietnam has recently introduced its Statute of the Vietnam International Arbitration Centre.[124]  The statute provides for the creation of the Vietnam International Arbitration Centre, having jurisdiction over disputes arising from international economic relations, such as foreign trade contracts where investment, tourism, international transport, etc.[125] The Japan Commercial Arbitration Association has published rules and recently amended its laws to permit foreign laws to represent parties in the international arbitration conducted in Japan.[126]

 

A 1995 report by PECC suggests that many APEC economies have worked hard at streamlining their investment procedures[127]. The report comments that at the heart of any international investment agreement is an effective dispute mechanism.[128] The report suggests that APEC’s dispute settlement procedures require disputes to be resolved by negotiation and consultation between members and, failing this, through arbitration in accordance with members’ international commitments, or through some agreed arbitration procedures acceptable to both parties[129].

 

The report refers to the World Bank guidelines on the treatment of foreign direct investment, adopted in 1992, and notes, in particular that disputes are to be settled by negotiation between the parties concerned, failing this dispute mechanisms, including consolidation and binding independent arbitrators, and that governments are encouraged to accept settlement through ICSID.

 

Schneider[130] reviews individual rights in arbitration, where private parties bring actions against states in respect of foreign investment. He notes the creation of the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) under the auspices of the World Bank. Schneider comments on the necessity for transparency in dispute resolution systems suggesting that, when rules and procedures are clear, parties are more likely to use the system, that published decisions of dispute resolution tribunals provide lessons and possible persuasive authority for other dispute resolution tribunals, and that transparent rules and decisions increase predictability of the system.[131] 

Schneider comments that the small number of cases referred to ICSID over the years, and the unpredictability in terms of appeals, have lead many government and corporate lawyers to advise their clients against this dispute resolution method.[132]

 

Mochtar[133] comments that the rapid expansion of trade and commerce accompanied by large investments has led the developing world to accept arbitration as the norm. He notes the cultural differences between the western concept of arbitration (legalistic and adversarial in nature) and the eastern concept (more flexible). He suggests that countries in the Southeast Asian region are “straddling” both eastern and western views about arbitration.

 

Waelde[134] comments that the historical intention of international investment law was the protection a sovereign tried to obtain for the property of its citizens abroad, in exchange for a reciprocal prominence.   In the global economy, however, the main protection is no longer the strong arm or the smart legal adviser of the home state, but rather the massive power of the markets to sanction misconduct by deviant host states[135]. 

 

Waelde suggests that the main concern is reputation, a bad reputation will lead to investor strikes, capital outflow, effective blacklisting by investors. Compliance with international economic law would, on the other hand, lead to a “quality seal” of a country expressed in the political risk and credit rating[136].  Waelde suggests that the key concept of the international investors is “political risk”[137], and the closely related concept, “transaction cost”[138].

 

Waelde suggests that one of the main innovations in recent enviro-lateral treaties and multilateral investment treaties has been the introduction of private rights for investors to bring claims before international arbitral tribunals against host states for breach of specified rules of behavior by states towards investors[139].  He suggests that there is little argument that investors will perceive this as much superior to the insistence on local courts[140].

 

Frankel[141] discusses cross-border securitisation as a concept in international investment projects.  He comments that the government’s regulatory role, in securitisation, is reduced because sophisticated buyers have power to demand loans made prudentially. Frankel notes that this idea was voiced in a 1997 conference in Beijing at which it was suggested that even if China does not need foreign currency it needs foreign investors to exercise market discipline on state enterprises that are privatized by issuing securities to investors (for example, foreign investors could insist that these issuers could adopt internationally acceptable accounting systems).[142]

 

Frankel concludes that uniformity in international norms will probably emerge through mechanisms such as the IMF, the World Bank, co-operating governments and regulators, bodies developing principles and models of law, and private agreements feeding customary laws that, like precedents, gain cohesive momentum as they are replicated over time.


 

3.         BOT DEVELOPMENTS ISSUES IN EAST ASIAN COUNTRIES

 

3.1       BOT in China: A Case Study

 

China has a track record in BOT projects. The DFAT[143] figures for private infrastructure investment since 1995 are as follows:

 

1995                                  $1.5 billion

1996                                  $9.0 billion

1997                                  $3.9 billion

1998                                  $4.5 billion

 

The substantive projects have been in energy ($13.7 billion 1995-1998) and transport ($4.2 billion 1995-1998).[144]

 

The effect of the Asian crisis on China’s BOT projects is not immediately apparent.  It appears, however, from some reports, that China expects to spend of the order of $65 billion US over the next 5 years to complete a national express phone network and specialised cargo transport routes in addition to its other infrastructure developments[145].  In Beijing alone, it is estimated that approximately $12 billion of funds are to be invested into infrastructure projects between 1996 and 2000, principally in the projects involving environmental protection, ports, water, electricity, health, roads and telecommunications.[146].  The Pudong area of Shanghai is expecting capital investment of the order of $36 billion over the next five years, including the new Pudong international airport, a light rail system, an advanced telecom network and other projects[147].

 

China has introduced a number of laws aimed at introducing Anglo-US style commercial laws since the cultural revolution[148]. The China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission has, for some time, had an established arbitration procedure and established arbitration rules[149]. China has recently introduced a number of reforms to the structure of government institutions aimed at reducing the cost of government by closing or merging ministries and to separate the function of government from the commercial management of industrial enterprises.[150]

 

In April 1988, the State Planning Commission introduced provisional regulations on foreign investment build-operate transfer projects[151].  Interestingly, the provisional regulations provide that the state is to guarantee the exchange and transfer to foreign countries of the foreign exchange necessary to repay the principal and interest on funds and to pay the project company’s dividends[152].  The regulations provide (correctly, it is submitted), that the government authorities will not provide any form of guarantee regarding the rate of return on the project investment[153].  The regulations provide, however, that the government authorities may share the risks of project financing, construction, operation and maintenance through methods such as adjustment of the building standards and extension of the BOT concession period.[154]

 

The provisional regulations provide that disputes are to referred to a Chinese arbitral body or other arbitral bodies for arbitration[155], and that the laws of the Peoples Republic of China shall apply except where there are matters not yet regulated by the Peoples Republic of China[156]. China has previously acceded to the Convention for Settlement of Investment Disputes between states and nationals of other states (ICSID), effective 1 January 1993.

 

McDonald[157] notes that the new Chinese BOT model could provide the administrative framework that has been lacking so far in Chinese foreign PPI (private participation in infrastructure) projects, noting that, previously, BOT projects have been based on a set of draft guidelines published in 1995[158]. 

 

McDonald[159], in a separate paper, outlines a number of projects which have been commenced in China since 1995[160].  That table contains 15 toll road projects, 20 power generation projects, and 4 water projects.  McDonald notes that, to date, there has been extensive autonomy in local regulation and development and that many of China’s regions have been experimenting with the broad range of private infrastructure concepts and projects structures in small to medium projects for several years[161]. He suggests that the key areas of risk with Chinese BOT projects have been:

 

·         political force majeure;

·         currency inevitability;

·         tariff adjustment;

·         construction schedule;

·         financing[162].

 

Wang[163] et al review the risks critical in China BOT power projects and suggest a number of potential mitigating measures. The potential types of risk mitigation measures suggested include obtaining government guarantees as to the tariff or concession period, maintaining good relationships with government authorities, establishing joint ventures with local partners including central government agencies or state owned enterprises, establishing joint ventures with local partners, gaining accurate information as to the financial status of Chinese entities, insurance for political risks and force majeure risks, obtaining expert credits from the sponsor’s government, appointing independent accountants to audit the Chinese entities.[164] 

 

Wang et al conducted an international survey of participants on case study projects.[165] They concluded that the end result of the Laibin B power project was a fair allocation of risks for all parties.  The political and legal risks were mainly borne by the government, the construction, operating, and technical finance risk were mainly borne by the consortium, the force majeure risks were shared between the government and the consortium.[166] 

 

Verzariu[167], an officer of the US Department of Commerce International Trade Administration, reviews developments in China’s power sector. Verzariu notes the proposed reforms being introduced by the Chinese Government to accelerate growth in the power sector and at the same time to ensure central oversight of the sector’s expansion.  Verzariu comments that it is likely that foreign investors will prefer smaller projects, in the less than $100 million range.  He comments that, for foreign sponsors, the principal obstacle to involvement with power projects has previously been the sealing of investment returns to the foreign company, which the Chinese government has informally capped at 15% for projects approved by the State Planning Commission.[168]

 

Verzariu notes that despite being required to devise financial schemes, foreign companies have also been saddled with a weak dispute resolution process through the Chinese courts, an inadequate regulatory framework, over priced asset valuation criteria, a less than transparent approval process, and still vague BOT legal blue print.[169]

Verzariu suggests that it would be necessary, if China is to entice a high number of private lenders and equity sponsors, to modify the country’s legal and regulatory framework in step with evolving finance structures[170].

 

Wang[171] notes the development of the civil law tradition in China commenting that the legal system in new China develops by imitating that of the former soviet union, and is therefore socialist in character. He suggests, however, that one can yet find traces of the Roman tradition noting that court verdicts, including the Supreme Peoples Court, has no binding power over the later verdicts of other courts but serves only for reference purposes.[172]

 

Chung Jie[173] reviews the sources of law in China, including references to law, regulation, rules, some decisions, and “even the construction made by the Supreme Court or the Supreme Procuratorate”.  Above that law is the Constitution, the supreme law in China, enacted in 1982 after three other preliminary constitutions (1954, 1975, 1978), and revised in 1988 and 1993, and 11 further amendments.  Underneath this is the second level, basic statutes enacted by the National Peoples Congress.  Underneath this, there are statutes enacted by the standing committee of the NPC.  Underneath this, there is administrative legislation.

 

Chung Jie notes the conflict of laws and suggests that this leads to inconsistent laws adopted by the different law making bodies in China.[174] She suggests the solution of the common law, namely the doctrine of implied repeal where there are inconsistent of statutes.  Chung Jie secondly suggests the option of “central paramountcy”, as occurs in the USA and in Canada. Chung Jie, notes that conflicts of statutes between different legislatures is unlikely because the legislative authority of each province is confined to its territory[175].  She suggests, however, that conflict of regulation between different branches of the administrative is bound to occur from time to time because such regulations are applicable in the same territory. 

 

Chung Jie suggests that in cases of conflict, the doctrine of negotiation would usually be applied. This, she says, is one of the most popular doctrines in China, based in the Chinese preference for harmony and avoidance of confrontation. Chung Jie refers to the 1989 Administrative Procedure Law of the PRC which provides for inconsistencies to be referred by the Supreme Peoples Court to the State Council for interpretation or ruling.[176]

Chung Jie concludes that the conflict of laws in China is still a major problem bewildering even the Chinese legal community.

 

Graham[177] reviews, comparatively, foreign investment laws in the USA and in China.  He suggests that the Chinese legal system is not adequate to sustain growth and gain the confidence of foreign investors[178].  He notes that investment bankers have expressed pessimistic views as to how long it may take to develop necessary legal and commercial infrastructure because of high level opposition to codification of contract and business law.

 

Andrews-Speed[179] comments that China is a state in transition marked by annual rates of economic growth consistently in the range 8%-12%.  He notes that the government has identified the energy structure as being strategic to the economy and has placed great emphasis on increasing capacity of the main energy industry (coal, oil and electricity).  He comments that Chinese government has been characterized by decentralization noting that local government leaders have wide ranging incentives to invest heavily and raise local economic output.  This combined with a national preference for reaching decisions by consensus, has lead local administrations to become a power force in economic reform and growth, while at the same time retaining an effective working relationship with central government.[180]

 

Andrews-Speed comments that the old system of regulation has been unable to react to the growth of the non-state sector. Provincial and lower level governments have increased their level of influence and reduced the value of the central government to control or regulate the state enterprises.  At the same time an effective apparatus for regulating non-state enterprises has not been put into place[181].  He suggests that despite the continuing enactment of laws designed to regulate this transition, it is now clear that these laws cannot be implemented effectively. The legal system offers little protection for contractual arrangement.  Further, the power of local government prevents the courts from providing substantial control over official arbitrariness.  He concludes that a fundamental change is required if China is to have a regulatory system attuned to its evolving, mixed economy[182].

 

Chan[183] reviews the practices of typical Chinese construction projects including the enactment of legislative regulations in the early 1990’s to enhance the construction industry in China.  He concludes that there are difficulties in managing construction projects in China, in particular:

 

·         difficulties in relation to pre-construction payments, standard practice in China, often diverted by contractors to support other fund-shortage projects[184]

·         intervention by government, for example, clients have to submit detail business and economic information of projects to the government for assessment of project, feasibility, and are subject to project approvals rarely required in western society[185]

·         tedious project approval process, including design approval and construction approval[186]

·         quality of contractors, high at technician level, however most people are unskilled and are not full time construction workers

·         testing and commissioning process for a project is often not serious, contractors establish good relationships with government construction departments, accordingly approvals are obtained easily without the project being properly completed and defects rectified or noticed[187]

Chan suggests that Confucianism affects the Chinese construction industry legislation. Ordinances allow local common officials, assumed to have a high moral ethnical standard, substantial discretion to interpret the ordinances. Construction contracts drafted with the same philosophy lead to disputes where contract conditions are not sufficiently detailed to adequately define the obligations of the parties.

 

The DFAT figures and the Tiong analysis[188] suggest that the Chinese projects to date have been concluded in spite of the existing legal system.  The likelihood is that the regulatory system will improve with time and experience as projects are completed.  In fact, one could suggest that this is exactly what occurred in Australia since the first BOT projects in 1989-1990.

 

3.2       Hong Kong: The English Legal System on Chinese BOT Projects

 

Hong Kong has a history of successful BOT projects, particularly in transport. Between 1995 and 1998 approximately $14.1 billion dollars was invested in BOT projects in the transport sector (principally the new Hong Kong International Airport). There have also been a number of successful tunnel projects. 

 

Man[189] notes the inheritance of the western legal system from the British and suggests that the rule of law had been hailed (progressively more as the change of sovereignty in 1997 drew nearer) as the secret of the present success of the economy and key to Hong Kong’s future prosperity.[190] Man refers to the classic text by Edward Said, Orientalism[191] and the converse concept of “occidentalism”, a concept Man suggests develops from orientalism. Following Hong Kong’s return to China in 1997, Man suggests, the rule of law (and its western history) was one which, to the Hong Kong public, was to be preserved rather than its proposed replacement, a non-elected provisional legislature.[192] 

 

Man refers to the concept of Quing, a concept particular to the Chinese, which has no equivalent in English language, but loosely translated as “appeal to other’s feelings”, “emotions”, “sense of humanity” or “ common decency”.[193]  He suggests that in the tradition of Chinese culture, law must also be based upon human nature.[194]

 

Hill[195] notes the clash in ideology and government philosophy created by the integration of China and Hong Kong, in particular the combination of a developed western legal system in Hong Kong, and a developing legal system in China.  He suggests that one of the worlds largest financial markets, Hong Kong, requires certainty and predictability of the law to remain confidence in the operation and effectiveness of those markets.  Further, that lack of confidence would lead to human and other infrastructure resources leaving Hong Kong.

 

Hill suggests that the PRC regime will have difficulty dealing with the Hong Kong concept of the individual.  He notes the cultural issue which arise between the confucian-communism philosophy, which has a fundamental opposition to a fixed set of rules with rigid universal application to all people, and the British-liberalism philosophy in which the political system does not favor any one particular interest and an economic system which is capitalist based on competition for free individuals.[196]

 

The position in Hong Kong, visa via BOT projects, remains very much the Anglo-US system.

 

3.5       East Asian BOT Projects – The Process…..Improving?

 

Tiong, in a series of papers on the evaluation of BOT projects in East Asia[197] has collected substantial empirical and interview data on BOT projects in East Asia, including responses from participants in BOT projects on the negotiation process, the approval process, and risk issues.

 

Tiong examines the equity finance provided by the international sponsor on a number of BOT projects to test the hypothesis that the higher the equity the more likely the bid is to be successful. He concludes that in Thailand and Hong Kong a high level of equity was usually required for short listed promoters to proceed to the final round of negotiations before the winner is selected[198].  He suggests that in other countries, where the level of equity is not specified in the request for proposal documents, a higher level of equity may have also increased the chances of success in a BOT tender[199].

 

Tiong reviews the risks and guarantees required in BOT tenders on a number of international projects.  He notes, for example, the Hong Kong government rejection of providing any government financial guarantees on Eastern Harbor crossing, though on Tate’s Cairn project, the government decided to participate in the equity investment.  He also notes the general position on most BOT projects that the government declined to provide financial guarantees.

 

Wang et al[200] reviews the valuation and competitive tendering on BOT power project plant in China, particularly in relation to the roles of BOT project agencies on certain projects.[201]

 

 

 

CONCLUSIONS

 

Experience and demographics suggest that we will see a dramatic increase in the number of BOT projects in East Asia over the next decade.

 

The commentators referred to above are uniform in their view that international investment, if it is to be encouraged, needs a reliable and transparent legal framework.[202] Yet, despite the general view that the Chinese legal system is obscure,[203] and the processes cumbersome,[204] we still see a number of concluded BOT projects in China.

 

So what will be the form of BOT projects, how will they be documented in the future?

 

The commentators, in general, suggest a substantial degree of globalisation of legal services, in particular the spread of Anglo-US legal practices throughout the world, including East Asia, through legal practitioners and other participants, and transactions involving foreign investors used to Anglo-US practice.[205]

 

Yet this is not without debate. Dezalay and Garth[206] suggest that bodies of legal practitioners who become dominant in an area spread their Anglo-US legal practices into the countries in which the international transactions move. They observed this in Europe, in the mid-1990’s, and conclude that a similar phenomenon may occur in China and Hong Kong. Appelbaum[207], in contrast, suggests the traditional Chinese business cultural values are more likely to prevail.

Certainly, all projects seem to embrace international commercial arbitration, in the Anglo-US tradition, as the method for dispute resolution.

 

Perhaps the economic conditions, the influence of APEC and the IMF, will further encourage Anglo-US forms and practices on future East Asian BOT projects.

 

 


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153.               

 



[1] This paper is directed to developments in the South-East Asia and North-East Asia regions, including generally Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, China and surrounding countries. For convenience, in this paper, I will refer to this as the East Asian region.

[2] See, for example, Infrastructure Sector Strategy Living By Serving New Directions for the Transition Economies, September 25, 1998 http://www.atomnet.pl/gaps2/infrawb.htm; Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Co-operation with Tasman Asia Pacific, Report, “Asia’s Infrastructure in the Crisis, Harnessing Private Enterprise” http://www.dfat.gov.au/eaau

[3] See, for example, Infrastructure Sector Strategy Living By Serving New Directions for the Transition Economies, September 25, 1998 http://www.atomnet.pl/gaps2/infrawb.htm

[4] See, for example, Shapiro M, “The Globilisation of Law” Global Legal Studies Journal , http://www.law. indiana.edu/glsj/vol1/shapiro.htm1; Perry A “Is Legal Globalisation an Impossible Dream? National Implementation of International Standards” http://www.dundee.ac.uk/cepmlp/html/article3-4htm ; Web Seminar – Globalisation and International Trade, Department of Law http://www.iue.it/LAW/weblaw/links.htm.

[5] Nottage L, “Trade Law Harmonization in the Asia-Pacific Region: A Realist’s View from New Zealand – and A Way Forward?” http://www.law.kyushu-u.ac.jp/~luke/nzlj95.html; Ryland M, Metzger B, Kim S Dr, ”Seminar on Legal Aspects of Regional Cooperation” http://www.adb.org/Work/Law_Devt/Seminar_Proceedings/ryland.asp

[6] See, for example, Wade R, Venerso F, “The Gathering World Slump and the Battle Over Capital Controls” New Left Review October 1998, p 231; Lim L, “The Asian Economic Crisis.  The Challenges for Government Policy and Business Practice”
http://www.asiasociety.org/publications/update-crisis-lim.html

[7] See, for example, “Survey of Impediments To Trade and Investment in the APEC Region”, Chapter 6, A report by The Pacific Economic Cooperation Council for APEC, 1995; Bartels J, “Asian Commercial Risk Review Payment Terms and Delays” http://www.dnb.com/newsview/0105news2.htm

[8] This is not the place for a detailed discussion of the nature of a BOT project.  For a more detailed analysis, see Shirbin J, Craven C, and McMullan J, “Infrastructure – Private Funding Issues”, Paper presented to Infrastructure 1993 Conference, Melbourne, October 1993; McMullan J, "BOT Contracts", Paper presented to International Seminar on Property and Investment Laws, Beijing Municipal Foreign Economic Relations & Trade Commission, Beijing, 23 May 1995, reproduced at http:\\www.mcmullan.net\eclj

[9] See note 7 above.

[10] Commercial arbitration, contractual by nature, is not ideally suited to resolving disputes between multiple parties. There is, in theory, no objection to multiple parties to an arbitration, and arbitration rules generally permit consolidation of arbitrations.  In practice, however, where multiple parties may need to be involved in any litigation, at least in Australia, the preferred course is to avoid arbitration, in favour of litigation in the courts.

[11] For example, a recent power purchase agreement in China included an arbitration clause referring disputes, until repayment of the international lenders, to arbitration at the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre, and, after the international lenders had been repaid in full, to arbitration at the Chinese International Economic and Trade Commission; a recent power purchase agreement in Vietnam included an arbitration clause referring disputes to ICC arbitration (in accordance with the Arbitration Rules of the International Chamber of Commerce); a recent Indonesian power purchase agreement included an arbitration clause referring disputes to arbitration in accordance with the rules of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre,

[12] This is not the convenient place for a detailed discussion of this process.  In brief, during the construction project, the parties refer any disputes to a panel of senior construction experts (agreed between the parties at the time of entering into the contract, and named in the contract) as a pre-condition to further litigation or arbitration. The empirical evidence is to the effect that a substantive proportion of disputes referred to the panel are resolved at that level, leaving a small number of disputes remaining to be resolved through the more formal dispute methods.  The Channel Tunnel is regarded as an example of a project where of many disputes were referred to the dispute panel, only a small percentage of those disputes remained to be resolved by formal dispute methods.

[13] This is a slight variation on the dispute panel, In theory, this group addresses the project generally and attempts to take steps to avoid potential disputes, in addition to acting as the dispute panel. There is little empirical evidence as to this type of panel.

[14] On some major projects, in Australia and elsewhere, the government has required an independent expert/consultant firm to assess the sponsor’s work, as it progresses, and certify its correctness.

[15] This is the not the place for a detailed history of BOT projects in Australia. In fact, the origins of the BOT process, in Australia, can be traced back to the Eraring project, financed on not dissimilar project finance principles, in the 1950’s.

[16] Even more interestingly, following this theme, the only state in Australia which seem to not develop a fascination for BOT projects in the early 1990’s was Queensland, a state with strong economic circumstances.  This theme should not be taken too far, however, Victoria presently has strong economic circumstances, yet BOT projects are as likely to be promoted in Victoria today as they were in the early 1990’s.

[17] PURPA

[18] Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Co-operation with Tasman Asia Pacific, Report, “Asia’s Infrastructure in the Crisis, Harnessing Private Enterprise” http://www.dfat.gov.au/eaau, see Appendix Table 1.1. DFAT notes that the region’s infrastructure requirements for the decade to 2004 is likely to be of the order of US$1.0-1.2 trillion dollars. This is down on the World Bank’s pre-1997 forecast of $1.5 trillion dollars.

[19] See, for example, the observations on processes in Tiong R, “Risks and Guarantees in BOT Tender”, Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, June 1995, p 183.

[20] Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Co-operation with Tasman Asia Pacific, Report, “Asia’s Infrastructure in the Crisis, Harnessing Private Enterprise” http://www.dfat.gov.au/eaau

[21] Ibid, at p 1.

[22] Ibid, at p 72. The reference to new BOT legislation is to the Philippines, China, and Vietnam.

[23] Phu Ny Power Project in Ba Ria, Vung Tau, outside Ho Chi Minh City, a 100% foreign owned BOT projects comprising 9 multi national consortia bidding for the contract to build and operate Hu Mi 2-2, a 700 MW gas fire electricity plant expected to cost US$500 million;  Man Son Pipeline, US $450 million dollars, to link gas fields to the Phu Ny site at Ba Ria, Vung, Tau; Ba Ria, Wartsila, US $130 million dollars dual fuel (coal or gas) 2 line power project, 120 MW; Hiep Phuoc Power Plant, Saigon South Development Industrial Zone, 650 MW; Oxbow project, Quang Nih, BOT Coal-Fire Power Project, US $300 million dollars; Ham Thuian Dam Hydro-Power Project Central Vietnam; Vung Tau Petro-Chemical Plant US$100 million dollars; Thu Duc Water Supply Project for Ho Chi Minh City, US$30 million dollars.

 

[24] See, for example, Takahashi T, “The Role of Japanese Companies in Asia’s BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) Infrastructure Projects”, Research Report, NLI Research Institute Industrial Research Department http://www.nlireseach.co.jp/ENG/RESEA/ECONO/ECO9510C.HTM

[25] Shapiro M, “The Globilisation of Law” Global Legal Studies Journal http://www.law.indiana.edu/glsj/vol1/shapiro.htm1.

[26] Ibid at p 1.

[27] See, for example, Chirathivat S, “ASEAN, APEC and the Americas: Its Interconnections in Regional Integration”
http://orpheus.ucsd.edu/las/prrpsc.html; and the questions raised as to the role of APEC in fostering US interests in Weiss L, “Globilisation and the Myth of the Powerless State”,  New Left Review October 1998, p 225.

[28] Ibid

[29] See note 17 above.

[30] Shapiro M, “The Globilisation of Law” Global Legal Studies Journal http://www.law.indiana.edu/glsj/vol1/shapiro.htm1, at p 6.

[31] Ibid at p 6.

[32] Ibid

[33] Ibid

[34] See Wang Z, “The Civil Law Tradition in China and Its Future Development”, The China Connection Legal Forum
http://www.enstar.co.uk/china/law/articles/legal-b.htm. There are a substantial number of local government and private lawyers and law firms in China, dating back to the Cultural Revolution in the late 1970’s.

[35] In fact, the BOT projects in China to date have universally involved both local lawyers and international lawyers in the transaction.

[36] Cate F, “Introduction Sovereignty and the Globalisation of Intellectual Property”  http://www.law.indiana.edu/glsj/vol16/nolcate. html

[37] Ibid at 1.

[38] Ibid at p 2.

[39] Ibid at p 3.

[40] Verzola R, “Globilisation: The Third Wave”  http://www.corpwatch.org/trac/feature/microsoft/globilisation/verzola.html

[41] Ibid at p 1.

[42] Ibid at p 2.

[43] Ibid at p 4.

[44] Barber B, “Global Democracy or Global Law: Which Comes First?” http://www.law.indiana.edu/glsj/vol16/no1)cate.html

[45] To be faithful to the writer’s comments, the full context of Barber’s comments are to the effect that: “…the forces of globalisation …. dragging the law behind ….. affected by two spectres haunting Europe, the first … a tribalisation of large swathes of human kind by war and blood shed … and the second …the on rush of economic and ecological forces that demand integration and uniformed and that mesmorize the world with fast music, fast computers and fast food with MTV, Macintosh, and McDonalds, pressing nations into one commercially homogeneous global network, one McWorld tied together by technology, ecology, communications and commerce”. He describes the forces of globalisation as  “folding precipitately apart and coming reluctantly together at the very same moment” (original emphasis).

[46] Delbruck J, “Globilisation of Law, Politics, and Markets – Implications for Domestic Law: a European Perspective”
http://www.law.indiana.edu/glsj/vol1/delbruck.html

[47] Ibid

[48] Ibid at 3.

[49] Ibid

[50] Perry A “Is Legal Globalisation an Impossible Dream? National Implementation of International Standards”
http://www.dundee.ac.uk/cepmlp/html/article3-4htm

[51] Ibid at p 7.

[52] Hirst P Prof, “Globilisation –ten frequently asked questions and some surprising answers”  http://www.gu.edu.au/centre/cmp/Hirst.html

[53] Weiss L, “Globilisation and the Myth of the Powerless State”,  New Left Review October 1998, p 225.

[54] Ibid at p 6. The alternative hypotheses, which Weiss rejects, are (i) strong globalisation, state power erosion; and (ii) strong globalisation, state power unchanged.

[55] Ryland M, Metzger B, Kim S Dr, ”Seminar on Legal Aspects of Regional Cooperation” http://www.adb.org/Work/Law_Devt/Seminar_Proceedings/ryland.asp

[56] See the reference below to comments by Dr Mochtar in relation to commercial arbitration in the region.

[57] Berger M, “A New East-West Synthesis? APEC and Competing Narratives of Regional Integration in the Post-Cold War Asia-Pacific”, Alternatives 23(1998), p 1-28.

[58] Ibid at p 130.

[59] Ibid at p 149.

[60] Dezalay Y, Garth B, “Dealing In Virtue; International Commercial Arbitration And The Construction Of A Transnational Legal Order” Chicago University Press, Chicago 1996; Dezalay Y, Garth B, “Law, Lawyers and Social Capital: ‘Rule of Law’ Versus Relational Capitalism , Social and Relational Capitalism”, Social and Legal Studies Vol 6 (1), p 109.

[61]

[62] Dezalay Y, Garth B, “Dealing In Virtue; International Commercial Arbitration And The Construction Of A Transnational Legal Order” Chicago University Press, Chicago 1996.

[63] Appelbaum R, “The Future of Law in a Global Economy”, Social and Legal Studies Vol 7 (2), p 171.

[64] Ibid at p 187.

[65] Dezalay Y, Garth B, “Dealing In Virtue; International Commercial Arbitration And The Construction Of A Transnational Legal Order” Chicago University Press, Chicago 1996. And see Dezalay Y, Garth B, “Law, Lawyers and Social Capital: ‘Rule of Law’ Versus Relational Capitalism , Social and Relational Capitalism”, Social and Legal Studies Vol 6 (1), p 109, referred to below in relation to the likely influence of western legal practice in the future development of BOT models in East Asia.

[66] Ibid at p 176.

[67] Appelbaum R, “The Future of Law in a Global Economy”, Social and Legal Studies Vol 7 (2), p 171, at p 188.

[68] Garcia F J, Symposium  “The Trade Linkage Phenomenon”: Pointing the Way to the Trade Law and Global Social Policy of the 21st Century”, University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Economic Law Vol 19, Summer 1998 No 2  201.

[69] Ibid

[70] Ibid at p 202.

[71] Ibid

[72] Ibid at 202-3.

[73] Charnovitz S, “Linking Topics in Treaties”, University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Economic Law Vol 19, No 2, 1998.

[74] Ibid at p 333.

[75] Ibid at p 338-339.

[76] Anderson B, “Sauve Qui Peut”, in The Spectre of Comparisons Nationalism, South East Asia and the World, Verso, London, 1998, chapter 14.

[77] Ibid at pp 302-304.

[78] Katzenstein P, “A World of Regions:  America, Europe, and East Asia” Indiana University School of  Law – Bloomington http://www.law.indiana.edu/glsi/vol1/katz.htm1

[79] Ibid at p 3.

[80] Ibid at p 3.

[81] Bello W, “IMF’s Role in Asian Crisis” http://www.ifg.org/imf_asia.html

[82] Ibid at p 1.

[83] Khor M, “The Economic Crisis in East Asia: Causes, Effects, Lessons”  http://www.ifg.org/khor.html

[84] Ibid at p 13.

[85] Lim L, “The Asian Economic Crisis.  The Challenges for Government Policy and Business Practice”
http://www.asiasociety.org/publications/update-crisis-lim.html

[86] Ibid at p 1.

[87] Ibid at p 5.

[88] Ibid at p 13.

[89] Ibid at p 13-14.

[90] Ibid at p 14.

[91] Wade R,  Venerso F, “The Gathering World Slump and the Battle Over Capital Controls” New Left Review October 1998, p 231.

[92] Ibid at p 14.

[93] Ibid at p 18.

[94] Ibid at p 33.

[95] Chomsky N,

[96] Berger M, “A New East-West Synthesis? APEC and Competing Narratives of Regional Integration in the Post-Cold War Asia-Pacific”, Alternatives 23(1998), p 1-28.

[97] Ibid at p 1.

[98] Ibid at p 2.

[99] Ibid at p 2.

[100] Project Finance International: The Global Infrastructure Magazine, Issue 168, 5 May  1999 http://www.ifrpub.com/PROJFIN/12.HTM

[101] Chirathivat S, “ASEAN, APEC and the Americas: Its Interconnections in Regional Integration”
http://orpheus.ucsd.edu/las/prrpsc.html

[102] Ibid

[103] Nottage L, “Trade Law Harmonisation in the Asia-Pacific Region: A Realist’s View from New Zealand – and A Way Forward?” http://www.law.kyushu-u.ac.jp/~luke/nzlj95.html

[104] Infrastructure Sector Strategy Living By Serving New Directions for the Transition Economies, September 25, 1998 http://www.atomnet.pl/gaps2/infrawb.htm

[105] These comments were directed to the European and Central Asia sector.

[106] Arrowsmith S, Davies A, (Eds); “Public Procurement: Global Revolution” Kluwer Law International London, 1998 http://www.dundee.ac.uk/cepmlp/html/review24.htm

[107] Bolmin P, “Co-Development: Towards a New System of Partnering In the Public and Private Sectors in the Execution of Major Infrastructure Projects”, 2 International Business Law Journal 1999.

[108] Shibasaki Y, “Life and Law are Different in Japan – the Difficulty of Internationalization”, EU-Japan Legal Dialogue
http://www.kc/c.or.jp/EUDialogue/shiba.htm

[109] Rahn G, “Cultural Differences and Doing Business in Europe and Japan” http://www.kclc.or.jp/EUDialogue/rahn.htm

[110] Ibid at p 3.

[111] Gibson C, “Do you hear what I hear?: a framework for reconciling intercultural difficulties arising from cognitive styles and cultural values” in P.C. Earley and M. Erez, eds, New Perspective on international industrial/organizational Psychology, San Francisco, 1997.

[112] Ibid at p 352.

[113] Chatman J, Putnam L, and Sondak H, “Integrating communication and negotiation research” , in Research on Negotiation in Organizations, 3 , 1991, 139-164.

[114] Waltin and McKersie, 1965, p 35, Cited by Chatman, Ibid at p 139.

[115] Ibid at 159.

[116] Chen C, Chen X-P, & Meindl J, “How can co-operation be fostered? the effects of individualism-collectivism”, Academy of Management Review, 1998, pp 285-304.

[117] Greenwood D, “Cultural Identities and the Global Political Economy from an Anthropological Vantage Point”, Global Legal Studies Journal http://www.law.indiana.edu/glsj/vol 1/green.html

[118] Salacuse J W, “After the Contract What? Negotiating to work successfully with a  foreign partner”
http://www.dundee.ac.uk/cepmlp/html/article3-1

[119] See the discussion above at note 12 above.

[120] Bailey D, “Some Current Issues in International Commercial Arbitration. Does APEC have a role?”, The Arbitrator, Vol 18, No 1, May 1999, p 24.

[121] Ketcham, W T, General Council, IBM World Corporation, “Arbitration between the State and Foreign Private Party”, seen posing of private investors abroad, rights and duties: South Western Legal Foundation, 1965, P, 404, Cited by Bailey, Ibid, at p 26.

[122] Ibid at p 28.

[123] Arbitration Rules of the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission
http://www.qis.net/chinalaw/prclaw50.htm

[124] Decision No. 204/TTG 28 1993, of the Prime Minister of the Government.

[125] Article 2.

[126] See, for example, JCA Newsletter Number 3 March 1998, “Expedited Procedures  Introduced by JCAA”
http://www.jcaa.or.jple/arbitration-e/syuppan/-e/newslet/news3.html; “Foreign Lawyers Allowed to Represent a Party in Japan”, JCA Newsletter Number 1 February 1996 http://www.jcaa.or.jp/e/arbitration-e/syuppan-e/newslet/news1.html

[127] “Survey of Impediments To Trade and Investment in the APEC Region”, Chapter 6, A report by The Pacific Economic Cooperation Council for APEC, 1995, at p 102

[128] Ibid at p 109.

[129] Ibid at Appendix E.

[130] Schneider A K. “Democracy and Dispute Resolution: Individual Rights in International Trade Organization”, University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Economic Law Vol 19, Summer 1998 No 2  587.

[131] Ibid at p 613-614.

[132] Ibid at p 164. Schneider notes that in its 32 year history ICSID has only handled 45 cases.  It therefore lacks the history and case load to provide predictability and assurances to investors in efficient and effective arbitration facility.

[133] Mochtar K-A Prof, “Arbitration in the 1990’s: Developments in East Asia”, Seminar Proceedings, ADB Work Law and Development, http://www.adb.org/Work/Law_Devt/Seminar_Proceedings/mochinsin.asp

[134] Waelde T, “Changing Directions for International Investment Law in the Global Economy An Overview of Selected Issues” http://www.dundee.ac.uk/cepmlp/html/article4-2.htm

[135] Ibid at p 5.

[136] Ibid

[137] Ibid at p 11.

[138] Ibid at p 12.

[139] Ibid at p 19.

[140] Ibid at p 20.

[141]  Frankel T, “Cross-border Secularization: Without Law, But Not Lawless” 8 Duke J. of Comparative and International Law 255 http://www.law.duke.edu/jounalss /djcil/articles/djcil8p 255. html

[142] Ibid at p 7.

[143] Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Co-operation with Tasman Asia Pacific, Report, “Asia’s Infrastructure in the Crisis, Harnessing Private Enterprise” http://www.dfat.gov.au/eaau, Appendix Table 1.1

[144] Ibid

[145] Infrastructure http://www.cbw.com/business/quarter1/infrastr.htm; Sunday Morning Post – Money (Hong Kong) 26 January 1997

[146] Infrastructure http://www.cbw.com/business/quarter1/infrastr.htm; CBNET (PRC), 24 February 1997.

[147] Infrastructure http://www.cbw.com/business/quarter1/infrastr.htm; US Consulate Shanghai, 14 March 1997.

[148] For example, Sino-Foreign Contracts for Joint Venture Law of Peoples Republic of China, 13 April 1988; Arbitration Rules of China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Committee, 17 March 1994; Accounting law, 21 January 1985, amended 29 December 1993; Implementation Regulations on Foreign Exchange Control Regulations relating to Enterprises with Overseas Chinese Capital, Foreign Capital Enterprises, and Sino-Foreign Equity Joint Ventures, 1 August 1993; Economic Contract Law, 1 July 1982; Foreign Economic Contract Law, 1 July 1985; General Principles of Civil Law, 12 April 1986; Sino-Foreign Contractual Joint Venture Law, 13 April 1988; Provisional Regulations on Foreign Investment Build-Operate Transfer Projects (a draft); Foreign Trade Law, 12 May 1994; Income Tax Law for Enterprises for Foreign Investment and Foreign Enterprises, 1 July 1999.

[149] Arbitration Rules of the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission
http://www.qis.net/chinalaw/prclaw50.htm

[150] See Andrews-Speed P, Dow S, Gao Z, “A Provisional Evaluation of the 1998 Reforms to China’s Government and State Sector: The Case of the Energy Industry” http://www.dundee.acuk/ceplp/html/article4-7.htm, discussed below.

[151] Provisional Regulations on Foreign Investment Build-Operate–Transfer Projects http://www.qis.net/chinalaw/prclaw61.htm

[152] Article 20.

[153] Article 23.

[154] Article 26.

[155] Article 28.

[156] Article 27.

[157] Macdonald R, Yashiro T, Yoshida T and Kunishima M, PPI in the PRC, “Two Categories and Six Models of Private Participation in Chinese Infrastructure” http://cmis 10.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp/~mac/cibpaper.html

[158] Ibid at p 4.

[159] Macdonald, R, Takeuchi S Prof, Yoshida T Prof, Kunishima M Prof, Background of PPI in the PRC, “Implementation of Private Infrastructure Development Methods in China” http://cmis10.t.u-tokoyo.ac.jp/~mac/dobokupaper.html

[160] Ibid at p 2.

[161] Macdonald R, Yashiro T, Takeuchi S, Kunishima M, “Camparison of Policies for Private Infrastructure Development in China and Japan” http://cmis10.tu-tokyo.ac.jp/~mac/policies.htm, at p 1-2.

[162] China BOT’s Executive Summary http://cmis10.t.u-tokoyo.ac.jp/~mac/china.html at p 4.

[163] Wong, Tiong, Ting, and Ashley, Risk Management Frame Work for BOT power projects in China”, General of Project Finance, Vol 4, No. 4, 1999.

[164] Ibid at Exhibit 1, p 57.

[165]The projects were the first province-approved BOT project in China, Shajiao B power plant in Guang Dong province, the first state-approved BOT project, Laibin B in Guangxi province, the first BOT project in Shanghai, Yan-an Second Tunnel, the first state-approved BOT water project in China, Chengdu water plant in Sichuan province, the second state-approved BOT project in China, Chang Sha power plant in Hunan province, and the second state-approved BOT water project in China, Da Chang water plant in Shanghai.

[166] Ibid at p 66.

[167] Verzariu P, “Development In China’s Power Sector”, Journal of Project Finance Vol 3 No 4, 1997, p 43.

[168] Ibid at p 45.

[169] Ibid at p 46.

[170] Ibid

[171] Wang Z, “The Civil Law Tradition in China and Its Future Development”, The China Connection Legal Forum
http://www.enstar.co.uk/china/law/articles/legal-b.htm

[172] Ibid at p 5.

[173] Cheng Jie C, “Conflict of Laws in China”, in The China Connection Legal Forum http://www.enstar.co.uk/china/law/articles/legal-b.htm

[174] Ibid at p 6.

[175] Ibid at p 7.

[176] Ibid at p 7.

[177] Graham H, “Foreign Investment Laws of China and the United States: A Comparative Study”, Journal Transnational Law and Policy, Vol 5:2 Spring 1996 http://www.law.fsa.edu/transnational/issues/5-2/grati.html

[178] Ibid at p 7-8.

[179] Andrews–Speed P, Dow S, “Regulating Energy In Federal Transition Economies: the case of China”
http://www.dundee.ac.uk/cemp/html/artlicle2-4.htm

[180] Ibid at p 2.

[181] Ibid at p 3.

[182] Ibid at p 3.

[183] Chan W, Wong F, Scott D, “Managing construction projects in China – the transitional period in the Millenium”, International Journal of Project Management Vol 17, no 4, 1999 p 257.

[184] Ibid at p 260.

[185] Ibid at p 260.

[186] Ibid

[187] Ibid at p 261.

[188] Tiong R, “Risks and Guarantees in BOT Tender”, Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, June 1995, p 183, discussed below.

[189] Man S W, & Wai C Y, “Whose Rule of Law? Rethinking (Post-) Colonial Legal Culture in Hong Kong”, Social and Legal Studies Vol 7 (2), p 169.

[190] Ibid at p 148.

[191] Said E, Orientalism,

[192] Ibid at p 150.

[193] Ibid at p 152.

[194] Ibid at p 153. This compares well with Appelbaum’s views, that the Chinese business culture will not, as Dezalay and Garth might suggest, be necessarily subsumed by western legal practice.

[195] Hill M, “The Rule of Law and Democracy in Hong Kong – Comparative analysis of British Liberalism and Chinese Socialism” http://www.murdoch.edu.au/elaw/issue/vln2/mhills.txt

[196] Ibid at p 6-7.

[197] Tiong R, “Impact of Financial Package Versus Technical Solution in a BOT Tender”, Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, September 1995, p 304; Tiong R, “Risks and Guarantees in BOT Tender”, Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, June 1995, p 183; Tiong R, “Competitive Advantage of Equity in BOT Tender”, Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, September 1995, p  282; Tiong R, “CSF”s in Competitive Tendering and Negotiation Model For BOT Projects”, Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, September 1996, p 205; Tiong R, “Final Negotiation in Competitive BOT Tender”, Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, March 1997, p 6; Tiong R, “Evaluation of proposals for BOT projects”, International Journal of Project Management, Vol 15, No 2, 1997, p 67; Tiong R, “Financial commitments for BOT projects”, International Journal of Project Management, Vol 15, No 2, 1997, p 73.

[198] Ibid

[199] Ibid at p 288

[200] Wang S, Tiong R, Ting S, Chew D, Ashley D, “Evaluation and Competitive Tendering of BOT Power Plant Project in China”, Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, July/August, 1998, p 333.

[201] Bridge of Trust, as agent for Laibin B; Beijing BOT Investment and Development Co Ltd (Beijing BOT), as agent for the Beijing-Tongxia Expressway; BOT International Project Development Co Ltd (BOT International), as agent for the Wang Chang Power Plant in the City of Chang Sha, in Hunan Province.

[202] See, for example, the DFAT report, note 18 above; the PECC Report, note 7 above; Perry, note 50 above; Ryland, note 55 above; Bailey, note 116 above; Waelde, note 129.

[203] See the comments by Chung Jie, note 168 above.

[204] See the comments by Tiong in his paper, Tiong R, “Evaluation of proposals for BOT projects”, International Journal of Project Management, Vol 15, No 2, 1997, p 67.

[205] See, for example, Shapiro, note 25; Delbruch, note 46.

[206] See note 61 and the discussion above.

[207] See note 63 and the discussion above.