Recently, the Ministry of Finance ("MOF") has issued the Government Accounting Standards No. 5 – Public Infrastructure (the "Standards"), which will come into force as of January 1, 2018.
The Standards are comprised of six chapters with a total of 28 articles, covering the recognition, initial measurement, subsequent measurement, disclosure with regard to public infrastructure and other contents. The Standards stipulate that public infrastructure shall be recognized provided that it satisfies both conditions as follows, one of which is that "service potential of the public infrastructure is very likely to be realized or economic benefits of such public infrastructure are very likely to go to government accounting subjects" and the other of which is that "the cost or value of such public infrastructure could be measured in a reliable manner". In addition, the Standards make it clear that government accounting subjects shall disclose 11 types of information in connection with the public infrastructure, including the "method of classifying and depreciating public infrastructure", the "respective amount of value at the beginning of the period and at the end of the period as well as its changes with regard to a public infrastructure project under construction", and the "face value of balance, amortization value in aggregate and changes thereof regarding the right to use a piece of land which is recognized as the public infrastructure and the price of which is measured and recorded into the account separately".