Project Finance Academy kicks off at NUS Law

NUS Law’s Centre for Banking and Finance Law commenced the inaugural run of Project Finance Academy from 14 to 16 November 2018.

Facilitated by Ms Amy Lee ’82 and Mr Lawrence Low from Tan Kok Quan Partnership’s Infrastructure and Projects Practice unit and Associate Professor Eleanor Wong ’85 (Vice Dean (Student Life & Global Relations) and Director (Legal Skills Programme), NUS Law), Project Finance Academy is a workshop focused on the structuring and documenting of international projects.

With a recent Asian Development Bank report indicating that Asia needs to invest US$26 trillion from 2016 to 2030 to maintain its growth momentum, this initiative by NUS Law comes at a time when there is a pressing need for Singapore to accelerate the pace of energy and infrastructure upgrading and development if it is to position itself as the region’s infrastructure hub.

The workshop was not only attended by finance practice representatives in law firms, but also by industry professionals and investors, all from Singapore, Indonesia and Myanmar. They were taken through the legal considerations in structuring project finance transactions and gained an understanding of the real-life considerations and tensions that underlie key provisions of a typical Concession Agreement, and related Project and Financing Documents.

The workshop included hands-on exercises on how to structure and negotiate documents that anticipate and deal with potential issues with a focus on project finance practices in Asia. Participants also had to role-play different stakeholders in an evolving scenario surrounding a rather troubled fictitious bulk water supply project that tested their structuring and negotiation skills, not to mention their imagination and creativity.

The diverse profile of participants also contributed significantly to the workshop as they brought with them insights and regional experience to the discussions. They also got the opportunity to interact with a guest panel that included Mr Allard M Nooy (CEO, InfraCo Asia), Ms Audra Low (Head (Origination and Structuring), Clifford Capital Pte Ltd) and Ms Rosemary C Ong (Public Private Partner Specialist, Asian Development Bank).

The next run of Project Finance Academy will be in 2019.