A multitude of international organizations, initiatives, and treaties, including particularly The United Nations Business for 2030 Sustainable Development initiative, increasingly mandate that any business engaged in any international development activities develop meaningful, long-term, transparent sustainable development partnerships with local communities. Establishing such partnerships can be costly and time-consuming, but the failure to do so can be even more costly and ultimately jeopardize any international development project. Lack of local cooperation can cause a company to incur as much as $2 million per day in losses due to a halt in operations caused by strikes and political protests or locally-imposed sanctions and fines.
At Ditthavong & Steiner, P.C., our attorneys are experienced international negotiators of social licenses that result in “Win-Win-Win” Agreements for our client companies, governmental entities having jurisdiction, and affected local community stakeholders. Such successful working relationships potentially can pay long-term dividends for our clients in the international marketplace and establish invaluable good will for prospective international sustainable development partnerships that may be required for any international development activity, whether it involve solar energy initiatives, water and sanitation assistance, health care initiatives, engineering, transportation, and related infrastructural undertakings, or natural resource extraction.