Infrastructure Export Legal Practice Team

In Japan, where the population is on a declining trend, in order to achieve long-term economic growth, it is important to increase exports of goods and services from Japan to all over the world including Asia and Africa.

In addition, the utilization of IOT, automated construction, the utilization of ICT technology in recent years have begun in the areas of construction, and IOT and AI have been utilized for maintenance and management, including the use of infrastructure. Such technologies are also playing a major role in the promotion of smart city-related businesses. The Super City Bill was approved on 16 April, 2020, and it is expected that the accumulation of know-how to export the packages of technology in unit of whole city will accelerate.

In this way, we believe that high-value-added packages that combine hardware and software can contribute to the growth of the Japanese economy by capturing infrastructure demand worldwide.

Given these circumstances, infrastructure export legal practices team of One Asia Lawyers is formed to enable the export of high-quality infrastructures such as railways, airports, ports, harbors, roads, water utility, energy, etc.

In 2018, the Law Concerning Promotion of Japanese Business Entry into Overseas Social Infrastructure Business (Overseas Infrastructure Development Law) was enacted, and its basic policy has been set forth. Under the basic policies stipulated by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, we need to realize infrastructure exports overseas with “All-Japan” approach. Among the basic policies, exports of public-private partnerships (PPPs) is considered to be the most important factor. As experts in infrastructure-related legislation and contracts worldwide, we will put in place a system to strongly support the public and private sectors involved in infrastructure exports.

The Government of Japan has stated that the key to the stability and prosperity of the international community lies in the “Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy”; in other words, coordination and cooperation between the fast-growing region “Asia” and the full of potential region “Africa”.

One Asia Lawyers Group has a wealth of expertise and experience in area of investing in and exporting a number of social infrastructures projects in various Asian countries for more than a decade. Nearly 200 members work in the Asian region, enabling legal advice rooted in the region. We have supported development projects in Thailand, Cambodia, and Myanmar, such as road laying, railway, and expressway maintenance, as well as development projects for hydropower plants in Laos. We provide legal support for the construction and establishment of local projects and JVs, investigations of construction and power generation regulations, contracting assistance for clients and subcontractors, and local customs clearance and value added tax issues.

On the other hand, considering the impact of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Chinese “One Belt, One Road Initiative”, we feel that social infrastructure exports, mainly in emerging countries, and by ODA and special zone development, have reached their limits in terms of both financial resources and quantity. We believe that Japan’s high-value-added integrated infrastructural packages, including not only hardware but also IOTs, AI, 5G, and smart cities, have the strength to work in developed countries such as Europe and the United States, and we intend to contribute to the restructuring of infrastructures and the export of urban packages. For example, from a legal standpoint, we provide legal advice on PPP laws, AI, IOT, data regulation, investment export structure, finance and various contracts, and contract negotiations and agency services tailored to local business practices in each country.

Satoru Ezoe, a team leader of Infrastructure Export Legal Practice team of One Asia Lawyers Group, as Attorney at-law and Professional Engineer (the construction division) has a track record of solving a number of infrastructure projects, infrastructure and construction-related disputes, drawing on his experience in designing and on-site management. He is able to provide legal support to various infrastructure-related companies not only from a legal perspective but also from a technical perspective.

＜Attorney Satoru Ezoe＞

One Asia Lawyers Group also includes locally rooted lawyers and experts, as well as lawyers and experts specializing in advanced legal affairs such as AI, IT, and IOT. This enables business entities that are responsible for infrastructure exports from both the hardware and software aspects.

Our office is comprised of experts familiar with legal practices in Japan, ASEAN and South Asia. By establishing office memberships in Japan, ASEAN, and South Asia, we are focusing our efforts on establishing a system for collectively providing legislation knowledge in ASEAN and South Asia from all of our offices, including Japan.