BOT
Since the establishment of Formosa Transnational (FT), the firm has endeavored to provide multi-faceted services to clients, and has abundant and specialized experience in the areas of construction, dispute resolution and investments. FT has earned public recognition by sharing its litigation experience with construction management and infrastructure investors.
In the 1990s, Formosa Transnational recognized that the government often encounters problems associated with a shortage of funds when promoting the construction of public infrastructure, and thus FT became proactively involved with the plan to recruit the private sector for participation in public infrastructure projects. At the time, FT immediately devoted attorney and staff time and energy to research the legal issues associated with private sector involvement in public infrastructure projects. The Taiwan government then on December 5, 1994 enacted and promulgated laws and regulations to encourage and provide incentives for private sector participation in transportation infrastructure, marking the beginning of the first public infrastructure project ever handed over to private sector interests. Since June of 1995, Formosa Transnational has continuously produced publications addressing the findings of related studies and research and FT became the foremost domestic law firm in Taiwan to conduct a series of studies and research into these issues.
Formosa Transnational, with its integrated and substantial experience in handling construction dispute cases, and its sophisticated understanding of investment laws and regulations, assisted the Taiwan government and private investors in promoting and encouraging the participation of the private sector in matters related to public infrastructure. FT acted as general legal counsel for the Department of High Speed Rail under the Ministry of Transportation and Communication and participated in the planning of BOT development with the Taipei City Government’s Taipei Train Station and also concurrently handled many cases involving investment in and the building of waste disposal units.
Since June of 1999, the Taiwan government has been promoting and planning the infrastructure of a cargo and logistics center at Taipei Port and Formosa Transnational assisted the government in the process of tender offer, negotiation and completion of contracts and other related operations, and through this gained valuable experience and in-depth understanding regarding major transportation infrastructure and the efforts needed to encourage private sector participation. The encouragement of private sector participation and the building of the Cargo and Logistic Center at Taipei Port was selected as one of the two BOT benchmark cases by the Public Construction Commission of Taiwan’s Executive Yuan.
Employing the experience gained from its involvement in assisting the government to promote private sector participation in public infrastructure, FT has been able to assist private sector interests with investment in public infrastructure projects. Since the investors in general have a limited understanding of the public incentive for participation in public infrastructure, FT often provides private investors explanations regarding the laws and regulations governing investment, shares its practical experiences, assists in analyzing and explaining the bidding procedures, preparation of tender documents and investment proposals, as well as assisting investors and the government in the negotiation process and contract discussions.
In addition, according to Article 24 of the Fostering Private Sector Participation in Public Infrastructure Law, private investors may at their will submit investment proposal to the government and negotiate with the government for possible modes of cooperation to promote public infrastructure development. Currently, Formosa Transnational is assisting investors in handling related matters pursuant to the foregoing provisions, and the subject investment case is one of the earliest cases in Taiwan concerning investment proposals submitted by investors.
Based on the experience accumulated in the involvement with and assistance provided to the government in promoting private sector participation in pubic infrastructure projects, Formosa Transnational is experienced at cooperating with government entities, investors, construction engineers, finance consultants and has assisted them in related matters. The regulations related to the Fostering Private Sector Participation in Public Infrastructure Law remain to this day new in the areas of construction, investment and laws. FT’s permanent devotion and focus on related laws and regulation and practical handling of these types of cases enables FT to provide efficient, prompt and valuable advice when consulted with respect to such matters.
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