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Leading global law firm Herbert Smith Freehills has advised China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) on the development agreement for Rashakai Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Pakistan.

Pakistan's prime minister Imran Khan witnessed the signing of the agreement on 14 September by the joint venture formed by CRBC and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Economic Zones Development and Management Company (KPEZDMC) and the federal government, provincial government and KPEZDMC.

The agreement concludes all preparatory negotiations and marks the commercial closing of the SEZ in Pakistan's northwestern province, part of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor.

Beijing projects and infrastructure partner Ellen Zhang has led the team advising CRBC since 2018, from securing the concession agreement in April 2019 to signing the development agreement this week. The team advised on designing of the structure of the project and drafting and negotiating the concession agreement and the development agreement, including negotiations with the Pakistani federal and provincial governments.

"We are delighted to have advised CRBC from initial structuring to commercial closing for this milestone project,” said Ellen.

“This is the first industrial zone in the province governed under a public private partnership, or PPP, regime. Our deep expertise in PPP and SEZ projects in Asia, and the team’s tireless work, enabled us to navigate the client through multiple challenges on the project,” said Ellen.

“The unique legal framework and innovative contractual structuring give us a chance to test and evidence our ability of combing the technical legal expertise  with commercial awareness to design a be-spoke solution for Chinese client developing projects outside of China”, said Senior Associate Sunday Wang.

Ellen was assisted by senior associate Sunday Wang and associate Andrew Lin on the design, drafting and negotiation of the agreement package.

 

全球领先的律师事务所史密夫斐尔为中国路桥工程有限责任公司 (中国路桥) 在巴基斯坦的拉沙卡伊特别经济区项目提供法律服务,助力其签署该项目的开发协议。

9月14日,在巴基斯坦总理伊姆兰·汗的见证下,中国路桥与开伯尔-普什图省园区开发与管理公司 (KPEZDMC) 共同设立的合资公司与联邦政府、开普省政府及KPEZDMC共同签署开发协议。

该协议的签署标志着拉沙卡伊特别经济区项目合同谈判、签署全部结束。拉沙卡伊特别经济区项目位于巴基斯坦西北部,是中巴经济走廊框架下产业和园区领域的示范性项目。

自2018年以来,史密夫斐尔北京办公室项目与基础设施投融资业务合伙人张晓慧率领法律团队为中国路桥提供法律服务,助力其于2019年4月签署了该项目的特许权协议以及此次开发协议的最终签署。团队就项目架构设计和特许权协议及开发协议起草谈判提供全程法律服务,包括与巴基斯坦联邦政府及省政府的多次现场及线上谈判。

张晓慧表示:“我们很荣幸在这一里程碑式的项目中自架构设计阶段至商业关闭阶段一直为中国路桥提供法律服务。”

“该项目是巴基斯坦开伯尔-普什图省第一个采用PPP模式运作的工业园区项目。史密夫斐尔在亚洲地区PPP和特别经济区项目方面拥有的深厚专业知识,以及团队成员孜孜不倦的投入,令我们能够帮助客户克服项目中的重重挑战。”

王敏表示:“这个项目对我们来说是一次考验,验证了我们如何通过将法律专长和商业思维有机结合,在独特的法律框架内设计创新的合同群结构,为中国客户的境外投融资项目提供量身打造的法律结构和方案的能力。项目的成功落地是对团队实力和付出的最大肯定。”

参与本项目的结构设计、文件起草和协议谈判的团队主要成员包括北京办公室王敏 (Senior Associate) 以及上海办公室林君瑞 (Associate)。


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Sally Greig

Head of Communications, Asia

Hong Kong

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Vivian Huang

Communications Manager, China

Beijing