Mallesons, which has acted as primary adviser to the Lao Government over the past decade, joined forces with Clifford Chance and Allen & Overy to work on the project. Mallesons worked with the Government to draft the terms of the Project’s Concession Agreement, which established the framework for the finance, development and operation of the project, including legal protections to ensure compliance with the stringent environmental and social obligations.

Cargill said that the extent to which the obligations of the project consortium and government were addressed in the agreement was an example of what developing countries could achieve with access to the same levels of legal, financial and engineering expertise as that available to the developers they deal with.