3 May 2010 - Gide Loyrette Nouel advises the central bank of Haiti on the Teleco / Viettel public-private partnership:

Gide Loyrette Nouel advised the central bank of Haiti (Bank of the Republic of Haiti, BRH) on the public-private partnership (PPP) agreement that the Haitian government and the BRH signed on 29 April 2010, with Viettel, the leading mobile operator in Vietnam. The agreement concluded one of the largest direct foreign investments in Haiti to date. Viettel will invest up to USD 100 million to expand telecommunications access as part of a national reconstruction initiative. 
 
In December 2009, Viettel won the international call for tender launched by the BRH for the partnership. Following the tragic earthquake of January 2010, Viettel reiterated its commitment to continuing the project. The international call for tender Viettel won was prepared by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a private-sector division of the World Bank, which the BRH retained as its principal advisor for a PPP project in July 2007.   Viettel will renew the services offered by the public company Télécommunications d'Haïti (Teleco) - which was formerly state-owned - by investing in a new company in which it will hold a 60% stake. The BRH or its subsidiaries will control the remaining 40%. Under the partnership agreement, Viettel will initially invest USD59 million, with, according to the projected financing, an additional USD40 million to be injected over the next four years.  

BRH Legal Counsel:           
Gide Loyrette Nouel (John Crothers assisted by Kateryna Korol and Julien Brusau Cuello for PPP issues, Thomas Urlacher for corporate aspects, and Olivier Cousi and Léonard Vielle for telecommunications questions).