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In the final of a three-part series on China’s Belt and Road initiative, George W Russell looks at significant opportunities created for legal work in both established jurisdictions and new frontiers

China’s Belt and Road initiative – a US$900 billion infrastructure spending spree along the old “Silk Road” linking Asia to Europe – has been billed as a once in a lifetime opportunity for emerging economies to upgrade their economic and social development.

Countries in Central and South Asia in particular are seizing opportunities to rejuvenate their obsolete or non-existent energy, water and transport systems. Examples include the first modern ports in Pakistan and Sri Lanka, while Kazakhstan is building state-of-the-art dams.

But the true test of the Belt and Road will be the long-term legacy for countries involved. Roads and railways, though valuable, require constant maintenance. Higher-value infrastructure, such as dams and power plants, can operate for 50-100 years.

A more lasting legacy, from a legal perspective, would be the entrenchment of a fair and equitable rule of law. In Kazakhstan, for example, the proposed Astana International Financial Centre would hear commercial cases under English common law and decisions would be enforced by independent courts, similar to separate international courts in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha.

The Belt and Road has galvanized law firms across the world. One opportunity is to work in the rarefied atmosphere of high-level, inter-governmental transactions. “Advice is needed to set up and conclude free trade zones and pacts on trade liberalization,” says Nicholas Hanna, a partner at K&L Gates in Singapore.

Nicholas-Hanna,-K&L-Gates

Digging deeper, the Belt and Road offers sophisticated legal work on a truly worldwide project. “We have lawyers who have purposefully been seeking to generate around the Belt and Road initiative, especially in helping MNCs [multinational companies] identify and secure contracts,” says Hanna. “But we also think it is very important to not exclude our global colleagues who can bring their cross-border regulatory and sector-specific knowledge to bear, this is how we truly add value.”

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