Martin Desautels
Based in Ho Chi Minh City, Martin Desautels is the Managing Partner of DFDL and co-heads the Regional Energy Mining and Infrastructure Practice Group.
Martin worked on a number of major projects in the energy sector, notably on private power policy in Cambodia advising the Royal Government of Cambodia as well as on several IPPs in Lao PDR, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Myanmar, and Cambodia acting for sponsors, lenders, and governments. He was involved in major projects including Nam Theun 2 Hydro Project in Lao PDR, the financing of the Thai-Cambodian Transmission Line, the financing of a coal-power project in Cambodia and four different hydro projects in Cambodia. He has also advised developers on various renewable energy projects related to bio-mass, bio-fuel and carbon trading.
He also advised various governmental entities notably the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and IFC on various aspects of the development of investment, regulatory and legal frameworks.
He is ranked as a leading lawyer by legal directories such as Chambers Asia Pacific, IFLR1000 and Legal 500. Martin is praised for his “thorough and complete grasp of the Cambodian and Vietnam legal market,” and for his “very strategic mind with regard to business issues.”