Sector: Energy and Infrastructure

October 31, 2022

Aiming to protect environmental health, the government has published a new rule based on section 20 of The Bangladesh Environment Conservation Act, 1995. The main objectives of this rule are to prevent, control, and reduce air pollution. The government will appoint a director general who will be responsible for managing and maintaining the environmental issue. […]

October 31, 2022

The government introduced a new rule based on the Electricity Act of 2018, named Electricity Rules 2022. In this new rule, among many things, the government clarified the issue regarding the formation of the electricity licensing board, the duty of the board, the procedure for issuing licenses for electricians and supervisors, the examination procedure, and the […]

October 31, 2022

The Ministry of Labor and Employment introduced 101 new amendments to the Labor Rule 2015, on 01 September 2022. There are some major and minor changes in the newly amended rule. Among the major changes, conduct towards women, maternity benefits, arrangement of health centers that will provide consultation to women are significant. As per the […]

October 25, 2022

Over the last few years a lot of attention in Vietnam was focused on the possible rate of tariff that should apply to the transitional solar and wind projects, i.e. projects that were initiated earlier, but did not meet the deadline of the previously introduced feed-in-tariff. The opportunities to become eligible for such feed-in-tariff expired […]

August 26, 2022

Bangladesh Railway is expanding their social services, recently they are planning to establish 250 beds hospital to serve their employee. Bangladesh Railway has established several hospital time to time, Kamalapur railway Hospital is one of them.  Bangladesh Railway has decided to upgrade and modernize the existing hospital at Kamlapur to a 250-bed hospital and establish […]

July 20, 2022

Investors in Vietnam can choose different routes to implement their projects. The major pathways are envisaged by the PPP Law and the Investment Law. Highlights What are the major regulatory pathways to a new project Major permits required Land allocation regime Specifics of regulation in energy sector and expected developments

July 11, 2022

The Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare of the Lao PDR (MLSW) has issued Decree No.2718/LSW dated 8 July 2022 (the “Decree”) stipulating specific guidelines to implement the Notification No. 829/PMO dated 13 June 2022 issued by the Prime Minister’s Office concerning an increment of the national statutory minimum wage from LAK1,100,000 to LAK1,300,000 (please […]

June 27, 2022

Bangladesh should presently be a super attractive destination for international investment in solar energy. Even though it does not lag as much behind in terms of electricity production as it used to earlier, nearly all of the present generation is fossil fuel based.

June 22, 2022

Bangladesh National Parliamentary Amendment Bill No 11/2022, on “Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corporation Ordinance 1985 (Draft)” dated 5 June 2022

May 27, 2022

Evolution of Green Finance framework in Bangladesh Bangladesh’s focus shifted towards sustainable financing in 2009, when a refinancing scheme for “Renewable Energy and Environment Friendly Financeable Sectors” was introduced.[1] This focus was further crystallized and formalized by framing of the Policy Guidelines on Green Banking in 2011. The priority given to this area was further […]

May 24, 2022

In this briefing the team of VDB Loi (Vietnam) answers to the most frequently raised questions relating to the provision of foreign loans to companies in Vietnam. This article generally assumes that parties are looking to implement long-term financing for a company registered in Vietnam. Note that additional requirements may apply to certain specifically regulated […]

May 23, 2022

On 6 April 2022, the Ministry of Energy and Mines issued Decision No. 674/MOEM on new licensing requirements for mining service activities in the Lao PDR. Here is a brief summary: Definition of mining service activities Mining service activities are services relating to mineral exploration, surveying, map drafting, geophysical surveying, drilling, exploitation, transportation, analysis, mining […]

May 17, 2022

In 2009, Bangladesh lost its first and so far only international investment arbitration against an Italian specialized construction company for the energy sector. It was a painful experience for Bangladesh whose counsel team had mounted a valiant and intelligent defense.

May 16, 2022

As noted in the IPCC Report “Climate Change 2022. Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability”, “overall adverse economic impacts attributable to climate change, including slow-onset and extreme weather events, have been increasingly identified.” The report further notes that there are multiple opportunities for targeted investments and finance to protect against exposure to climate hazards, particularly for those […]

May 16, 2022

As noted in the IPCC Report “Climate Change 2022. Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability”, “overall adverse economic impacts attributable to climate change, including slow-onset and extreme weather events, have been increasingly identified.” The report further notes that there are multiple opportunities for targeted investments and finance to protect against exposure to climate hazards, particularly for those […]

May 16, 2022

As noted in the IPCC Report “Climate Change 2022. Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability”, “overall adverse economic impacts attributable to climate change, including slow-onset and extreme weather events, have been increasingly identified.” The report further notes that there are multiple opportunities for targeted investments and finance to protect against exposure to climate hazards, particularly for those […]

May 16, 2022

As noted in the IPCC Report “Climate Change 2022. Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability”, “overall adverse economic impacts attributable to climate change, including slow-onset and extreme weather events, have been increasingly identified.” The report further notes that there are multiple opportunities for targeted investments and finance to protect against exposure to climate hazards, particularly for those […]

April 20, 2022

In accordance with the notification issued by the Central Bank of Myanmar on 3 April 2022 regarding the conversion of USD into MMK within one working day, the Ministry of Commerce (“MOC”) has confirmed that it will assist importers/exporters regarding the facilitation of applications to buy USD used for their businesses with the Foreign Exchange […]

March 30, 2022

Recently, the Trade Department of the Ministry of Commerce issued Newsletter No. 2/2022 for additional items requiring an import license. This follows previous action by the department of adding commodity lines 3070 (Newsletter No. 18/2021) and 826 (Newsletter No. 1/2022) to the list of those requiring an import license. Effective from 2 March 2022, the […]

March 14, 2022

We are aware of at least 10 to 12 renewable power projects which have some kind of Government preliminary approval, but which have not yet reached financial close or commenced major construction. The majority of these are open to investment or sometimes, a financing solution. Highlights of this note Which Renewable Power Projects in Development […]