Milbank LLP’s Singapore-based Transportation and Space partner Paul Ng, at the invitation of the US Ambassador to the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Rena Bitter, was a key note speaker at the Cape Town Convention seminar in Vientiane on February 20. The conference was attended by major aviation industry players, including Boeing, GECAS and government officials, including the director general of the civil aviation authority of Laos, the minister of public works and transport and the director general from the prime minister’s office. Later in the week at the invitation of the Charge d’Affaires of the US Embassy in the Kingdom of Cambodia, Michael Newbill, Mr. Ng spoke at an aviation seminar in Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh on legal aspects of the convention, including sharing his experiences on the ratification process for countries considering joining this important aviation treaty. The event was attended by many of the airlines operating in Cambodia, including Cambodia Airways, Cambodia Angkor Air and also senior members of the civil aviation authority and other ministries of Cambodia.
The Cape Town Convention is one of the most important international treaties on aircraft that enhances and harmonises the laws between countries in the recognition of rights related to the financing, leasing and sale of aircraft, aircraft engines and helicopters. The treaty has been instrumental in furthering the expansion of the aviation industry by allowing players in member states to access capital to invest in aviation which that would otherwise not be available to and in those countries. Ratification of The Cape Town Convention is hoped to strengthen the business environment and increase growth of the aviation industry in Laos and Cambodia by allowing operators to buy or lease airplanes less expensively and allowing aircraft manufacturers and lessors to gain access to new market opportunities with lower risk. This in turn is hoped to lead to a cost-efficient expansion of the local aviation sector, adding a boost to tourism and greater regional integration.
Mr. Ng is the chair of the South East Asia group of the Aviation Working Group (AWG), an international industry group of experts dedicated to facilitating the advancement of aircraft financing and leasing. The AWG contributes to the development and acceptance of policies, laws, regulations and rules that facilitates advanced international aviation financing and leasing.
