Gaylord Watkins is HB Global Advisors Corp.’s regional correspondent based in Singapore. A resident of the country for many years, he first came to Singapore as a recent graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School in 1967 and served as a lecturer at the Faculty of Law of the University of Singapore until 1969.
Mr. Watkins is a well known resources and infrastructure projects lawyer and strategic advisor. Originally a geologist working in Canada, Alaska and the Ivory Coast, he has practised law since 1976 in Canada, and since 1991 in the Far East. His principal focus over the last 17 years has been mining and energy projects in Southeast Asia, primarily in Indonesia. He was based in Jakarta from 1991 until 2007, first as an international partner of a global law firm, then as senior counsel to the largest independent law firm in Indonesia. Mr. Watkins has been recognized by The International Who’s Who of Mining Lawyers as a leading practitioner in Indonesia for his expertise in mining law. He has also been named by Asia Law & Practice as a leading mergers and acquisitions lawyer, and by Legal 500 as a leading project finance and energy lawyer. He has acted as counsel in a number of international arbitrations, and as an expert in Indonesian mining law.
Mr. Watkins has represented American, Australian, Canadian, Chinese, English, French, Indian, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Filipino, Singaporean, Thai and UAE mining (coal, cobalt, copper, gold, iron and nickel) companies as well as international project financiers and banks, and companies offering mining, construction, oil and gas (natural and industrial), private power (coal, gas and geothermal) and shipping services. He advises on the structuring of foreign investments, on the obtainment and verification of rights to resources and mining permits, on the interpretation of contracts of work/stability agreements, on the negotiation of joint ventures, on the financing of private and public infrastructure for mine construction and operations, on mining and environmental regulations as well as on dispute resolution.
Mr. Watkins is a director of a number of private companies that have investments or projects in Southeast Asia. He is also a director of Regional Advisory Services Pte. Ltd. (Singapore) and PT Regional Advisory Services (Indonesia), strategic advisors to foreign companies with business interests in Asia.
For a number of years, he served on the board of directors of the Alberta Law Reform Institute and as consultant to the Law Reform Commission of Canada. He has also served as counsel to the International Labour Office in Geneva, Switzerland. He has lectured at the universities of Calgary, Ottawa, Indonesia and Singapore.