5. Each Contracting Party shall bear the cost of the arbitrator of its choice and its representation in the arbitral proceedings. The cost of the President of the arbitration board in discharging his or her duties and the remaining costs of the arbitration board shall be borne equally by the Contracting Parties.

Article 18. Settlement of Investment Disputes between a Contracting Party and an Investor of the other Contracting Party

1. For the purposes of this Article, "investment dispute" is a dispute between a Contracting Party and an investor of the other Contracting Party that has incurred loss or damage by reason of, or arising out of, an alleged breach of any obligation of the former Contracting Party under this Agreement with respect to the investor of that other Contracting Party or its investments in the Area of the former Contracting Party.

2. Subject to subparagraph 7(b), nothing in this Article shall be construed so as to prevent an investor who is a party to an investment dispute (hereinafter referred to in this Article as "disputing investor") from seeking administrative or judicial settlement within the Area of the Contracting Party that is a party to the investment dispute (hereinafter referred to in this Article as "disputing Party").

3. Any investment dispute shall, as far as possible, be settled amicably through consultations between the disputing investor and the disputing Party (hereinafter referred to in this Article as "the disputing parties").

4. If the investment dispute cannot be settled through such consultations within three months from the date on which the disputing investor requested in writing the disputing Party for consultations, the disputing investor may, subject to subparagraph 7(a), submit the investment dispute to one of the following international arbitrations:

(a) arbitration in accordance with the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States, done at Washington, March 18, 1965 (hereinafter referred to in this Article as "the ICSID Convention"), so long as the ICSID Convention is in force between the Contracting Parties;

(b) arbitration under the Additional Facility Rules of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, provided that either Contracting Party, but not both, is a Party to the ICSID Convention;

(c) arbitration under the Arbitration Rules of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law; and

(d) if agreed with the disputing Party, any arbitration in accordance with other arbitration rules.

5. Each Contracting Party hereby consents to the submission of an investment dispute by a disputing investor to arbitration set forth in paragraph 4 chosen by the disputing investor.

6. Notwithstanding paragraph 5, no investment disputes may be submitted to arbitration set forth in paragraph 4, if more than three years have elapsed since the date on which the disputing investor acquired or should have first acquired, whichever is the earlier, the knowledge that the disputing investor had incurred loss or damage referred to in paragraph 1.

7. (a) In the event that an investment dispute has been submitted to courts of justice or administrative tribunals or agencies or any other binding dispute settlement mechanism established under the laws and regulations of the disputing Party, any arbitration set forth in paragraph 4 can be sought only if the disputing investor withdraws, in accordance with the laws and regulations of the disputing Party, its claim from such domestic remedies before the final decisions are made therein.

(b) In the event that an investment dispute has been submitted for resolution under one of the arbitrations set forth in paragraph 4, the same investment dispute shall not be submitted for resolution under courts of justice, administrative tribunals or agencies or any other binding dispute settlement mechanism established under the laws and regulations of the disputing Party.

8. An arbitral tribunal established under paragraph 4 shall decide the issues in dispute in accordance with this Agreement and applicable rules of international law.

9. The disputing Party shall deliver to the other Contracting Party:

(a) written notice of the investment dispute submitted to the arbitration no later than thirty days after the date on which the investment dispute was submitted; and

(b) copies of all pleadings filed in the arbitration.

10. The Contracting Party which is not the disputing Party may, upon written notice to the disputing parties, make submissions to the arbitral tribunal on a question of interpretation of this Agreement.

11. The arbitral tribunal may award only:

(a) a judgment whether or not there has been a breach by the disputing Party of any obligation under this Agreement with respect to the disputing investor and its investments; and

(b) one or both of the following remedies, only if there has been such a breach:

(i) monetary damages and applicable interest; and

(ii) restitution of property, in which case the award shall provide that the disputing Party may pay monetary damages and any applicable interest, in lieu of restitution.

The arbitral tribunal may also award cost and attorney's fees in accordance with this agreement and applicable arbitral rules.

12. The disputing Party may make available to the public in a timely manner all documents, including an award, submitted to, or issued by, an arbitral tribunal established under paragraph 4, subject to redaction of:

(a) confidential business information;

(b) information which is privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under the applicable laws and regulations of either Contracting Party; and

(c) information which shall be withheld pursuant to the relevant arbitration rules.

13. Unless the disputing parties agree otherwise, the arbitration shall be held in a country that is a party to the United Nations Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, done at New York, June 10, 1958 (hereinafter referred to in this Article as "the New York Convention").

14. The award rendered by the arbitral tribunal shall be final and binding upon the disputing parties. This award shall be executed in accordance with the applicable laws and regulations, as well as relevant international law including the ICSID Convention and the New York Convention, concerning the execution of award in force in the country where such execution is sought.

Article 19. General and Security Exceptions

1. Subject to the requirement that such measures are not applied by a Contracting Party in a manner which would constitute a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination against, or a disguised restriction on investors of the other Contracting Party and their investments in the Area of the former Contracting Party, nothing in this Agreement shall be construed so as to prevent the former Contracting Party from adopting or enforcing measures:

(a) necessary to protect human, animal or plant life or health;

(b) necessary to protect public morals or to maintain public order, provided that the public order exception may only be invoked where a genuine and sufficiently serious threat is posed to one of the fundamental interests of society;

(c) necessary to secure compliance with the laws or regulations which are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Agreement including those relating to:

(i) the prevention of deceptive and fraudulent practices or to deal with the effects of a default on contract;

(ii) the protection of the privacy of the individual in relation to the processing and dissemination of personal data and the protection of confidentiality of personal records and accounts; or

(iii) safety; or

(d) imposed for the protection of national treasures of artistic, historic or archaeological value.

2. Nothing in this Agreement other than Article 14 shall be construed to prevent a Contracting Party from adopting or enforcing measures:

(a) which it considers necessary for the protection of its essential security interests:

(i) taken in time of war, or armed conflict, or other emergency in that Contracting Party or in international relations; or

(ii) relating to the implementation of national policies or international agreements respecting the non-proliferation of weapons; or

(b) in pursuance of its obligations under the United Nations Charter for the maintenance of international peace and security.

Article 20. Temporary Safeguard Measures

1. A Contracting Party may adopt or maintain measures not conforming with its obligations under Article 2 relating to cross-border capital transactions and Article 16:

(a) in the event of serious balance-of-payments and external financial difficulties or threat thereof; or

(b) in cases where, in exceptional circumstances, movements of capital cause or threaten to cause serious difficulties for macroeconomic management, in particular, monetary and exchange rate policies.

2. Measures referred to in paragraph 1:

(a) shall be consistent with the Articles of Agreement of the International Monetary Fund, so long as the Contracting Party taking the measures is a party to the said Articles;

(b) shall not exceed those necessary to deal with the circumstances set out in paragraph 1;

(c) shall be temporary and shall be eliminated as soon as conditions permit;

(d) shall be promptly notified to the other Contracting Party; and

(e) shall avoid unnecessary damages to the commercial, economic and financial interests of the other Contracting Party.

3. Nothing in this Agreement shall be regarded as altering the rights enjoyed and obligations undertaken by a Contracting Party as a party to the Articles of Agreement of the International Monetary Fund.

Article 21. Prudential Measures

1. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Agreement, a Contracting Party shall not be prevented from taking measures relating to financial services for prudential reasons, including measures for the protection of investors, depositors, policy holders or persons to whom a fiduciary duty is owed by an enterprise supplying financial services, or to ensure the integrity and stability of its financial system.

2. Where the measures taken by a Contracting Party pursuant to paragraph 1 do not conform with this agreement, they shall not be used as a means of avoiding the obligations of the Contracting Party under this Agreement.

Article 22. Intellectual Property Rights

1. The Contracting Parties shall grant and ensure the adequate and effective protection of intellectual property rights, and promote efficiency and transparency in intellectual property protection system. For this purpose, the Contracting Parties shall promptly consult with each other at the request of either Contracting Party. Depending on the results of the consultation, each Contracting Party shall, in accordance with its applicable laws and regulations, take appropriate measures to remove the factors which are recognised as having adverse effects to the investments of investors of the other Contracting Party.

2. Nothing in this Agreement shall affect the rights and obligations of the Contracting Parties under multilateral agreements in respect of protection of intellectual property rights to which the Contracting Parties are parties.

3. Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed so as to oblige either Contracting Party to extend to investors of the other Contracting Party and to their investments treatment accorded to investors of a non-Contracting Party and to their investments by virtue of a multilateral agreements in respect of protection of intellectual property rights, to which the former Contracting Party is a party.

Article 23. Taxation

1. Nothing in this Agreement shall apply to taxation measures except as expressly provided for in paragraphs 3, 4 and 5 of this Article.

2. Nothing in this Agreement shall affect the rights and obligations of either Contracting Party under tax convention. In the event of any inconsistency between this Agreement and any such convention, that convention shall prevail to the extent of the inconsistency.

3. Articles 1, 5, 8, 13 and 28 shall apply to taxation measures.

4. Articles 17 and 18 shall apply to disputes regarding taxation measures to the extent covered by paragraph 3.

5. Article 24 shall apply to matters regarding taxation measures to the extent covered by paragraph 3.

Article 24. Joint Committee

1. The Contracting Parties shall establish a Joint Committee (hereinafter referred to as "the Committee") with a view to accomplishing the objectives of this Agreement. The functions of the Committee shall be:

(a) to discuss and review the implementation and operation of this Agreement;

(b) to review the non-conforming measures maintained, amended or modified pursuant to paragraph 1 of Article 7 for the purpose of contributing to the reduction or elimination of such non-conforming measures;

(c) to discuss the non-conforming measures adopted or maintained pursuant to paragraph 2 of Article 7 for the purpose of encouraging favourable conditions for investors of the Contracting Parties;

(d) to exchange information on and to discuss investment-related matters within the scope of this Agreement, which relate to improvement of investment environment; and

(e) to discuss any other investment-related matters concerning this Agreement.

2. The Committee may, as necessary, make appropriate recommendations by consensus to the Contracting Parties for the more effective functioning or the attainment of the objectives of this Agreement.

3. The Committee shall be composed of representatives of the Contracting Parties. The Committee may, upon mutual consent of the Contracting Parties, invite representatives of relevant entities other than the Government of the Contracting Parties with the necessary expertise relevant to the issues to be discussed, and hold joint meetings with the private sectors.

4. The Committee shall determine its own rules of procedure to carry out its functions.

5. The Committee may establish sub-committees and delegate specific tasks to such sub-committees.

6. The Committee shall meet upon the request of either Contracting Party.

Article 25. Health, Safety and Environmental Measures and Labour Standards

Each Contracting Party shall refrain from encouraging investment by investors of the other Contracting Party by relaxing its health, safety or environmental measures or by lowering its labour standards. To this effect each Contracting Party should not waive or otherwise derogate from such measures or standards as an encouragement for the establishment, acquisition or expansion in its Area of investments by investors of the other Contracting Party and of a non-Contracting Party.

Article 26. Denial of Benefits

1. A Contracting Party may deny the benefits of this Agreement to an investor of the other Contracting Party that is an enterprise of the other Contracting Party and to its investments if the enterprise is owned or controlled by an investor of a non-Contracting Party and the denying Contracting Party:

(a) does not maintain diplomatic relations with the non-Contracting Party; or

(b) adopts or maintains measures with respect to the non-Contracting Party that prohibit transactions with the enterprise or that would be violated or circumvented if the benefits of this Agreement were accorded to the enterprise or to its investments.

2. Subject to prior notification and consultation, a Contracting Party may deny the benefits of this Agreement to an investor of the other Contracting Party that is an enterprise of the other Contracting Party and to its investments if the enterprise is owned or controlled by an investor of a non-Contracting Party and the enterprise has no substantial business activities in the Area of the other Contracting Party.

3. For the purpose of this Article, an enterprise is:

(a) "owned" by an investor if more than fifty percent of the equity interest in it is owned by the investor; and

(b) "controlled" by an investor if the investor has the power to name a majority of its directors or otherwise to legally direct its actions;

Article 27. Headings

The headings of the Articles of this Agreement are inserted for convenience of reference only and shall not affect the interpretation of this Agreement.

Article 28. Final Provisions

1. This Agreement shall enter into force on the thirtieth day after the date of exchange of diplomatic notes informing each other that their respective legal procedures necessary for the entry into force of this Agreement have been completed. It shall remain in force for a period of ten years after its entry into force and shall continue in force unless terminated as provided in paragraph 2.

2. A Contracting Party may, by giving one year's advance notice in writing to the other Contracting Party, terminate this Agreement at the end of the initial ten year period or at any time thereafter.

3. This Agreement shall also apply to all investments of investors of either Contracting Party acquired in the Area of the other Contracting Party in accordance with the applicable laws and regulations of that other Contracting Party prior to the entry into force of this Agreement.

4. In respect of investments acquired prior to the date of termination of this Agreement, the provisions of this Agreement shall continue to be effective for a period of ten years from the date of termination of this Agreement.

5. This Agreement shall not apply to claims arising out of events which occurred prior to its entry into force.

6. The Annexes to this Agreement shall form an integral part of this Agreement.

Conclusion

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned, being duly authorised by their respective Governments, have signed this Agreement.

DONE at Tokyo, on this fifteenth day of December, 2013, in duplicate in the English language.

FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF JAPAN:

FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE UNION OF MYANMAR:

Kan Zaw