Chapter 446 Planning a Container Terminal
In 1965, Hong Kong's real estate plummeted, and it was not yet time to invest. Therefore, Changxing Real Estate was basically in a state of stagnation. At most, it collected rents, and cooperated with several brother companies to build factories or self-use buildings, etc.
As for Changxing Shipping, it is enough to carefully manage the existing ships and make a last effort to buy some more ships. After Yang Wendong decides on the direction, there is no need to pay special attention to it.
The three core businesses of Changxing Group are only Changxing Industrial. With the global sales of various small commodities, the entire factory has become busy. Many workers have also begun to be busy and have to work overtime frequently, and the personnel department has also had to work overtime. Recruit extra people.
In early August, Yang Wendong came to the Changxing Industrial Park base in Kwun Tong. After seeing Wei Zetao, he smiled and asked: "How is the recruitment going recently? I saw recruitment advertisements in several newspapers yesterday."
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"Yang Sheng, sit down first." After Wei Zetao greeted him quickly, he said: "The feedback from the personnel department is pretty good. Now the real estate market in Hong Kong has dropped sharply. Many construction workers have lost their jobs. Although these skilled workers may not Many people will come to us, but many small workers or those who have been indirectly affected still come.”
"Well, it is a good thing to have enough manpower." Yang Wendong said: "But when a large number of new people come in, we must pay attention to the training of new people and quality control."
For small factories, quality problems are often dealt with perfunctorily, but for large companies, that is absolutely not possible. Quality is the lifeline. Once there is a problem, the consequences will be very serious, because if there is a problem in one place, it will affect the entire brand. of blow.
Although Changxing Industrial's products are not as good as Watsons' food in terms of quality, they cannot be underestimated. After all, the products are distributed all over the world.
Wei Zetao replied: "Yang Sheng, don't worry, we already have a complete set of internal control measures for quality."
"Well, okay, where is Wanwan?" Yang Wendong asked again.
Wei Zetao replied: "The factories in Wanwan are also producing normally and are also expanding in scale. Currently, Wanwan's production capacity is mainly used for export to Japan and the United States, while Hong Kong's is used for exports to the Commonwealth, Southeast Asia and other countries. .
This is mainly due to the consideration of different tariffs in Hong Kong and the Gulf from various places, as well as the shipping distance. ”
"This distribution is not bad, but there are still too many in Hong Kong." Yang Wendong continued: "The Singapore side is about to be established. We can try to start with various preparations we have made before."
Historically, Singapore was founded on August 9, 1965, but now it is exactly the same. The appearance of Yang Wendong will not change anything about such a major event.
And since it has been established, it means that the political situation is stable and the ZZ forces of all parties have maintained a good balance at the negotiating table. In this way, the security for the capitalists is much greater. Although as a time traveler, he knows that this matter is nothing. Problem, but I don’t want to get involved in the whirlpool, so I have been waiting. At most, I will invest a small amount in the early stage or do some research.
Wei Zetao said: "This is the best. If we build a factory in Singapore, it will be much more convenient to transport to the Southeast Asian market."
Singapore was established on the 9th, and this matter was also announced. After all, such a major event for a country needs to be notified to the world in advance, and it also needs the recognition of the United Nations, and the outside world is basically aware of it.
Yang Wendong said with a smile: "Singapore must be very busy these days. After they are established, we will take some people from the group to go together. You should also be prepared.
Investing in a large factory in Singapore is very important to today's Singapore economy, but I also need to get some benefits from other fields. At that time, the interests of several subsidiaries will be combined and exchanged with the Singapore government. ”
In the early days of Singapore's establishment, the economy was not good, the unemployment rate was very high, and capital fled in large numbers due to ZZ reasons in the past few years. At this time, there was an urgent need for large-scale factories like Changxing Industrial that can generate employment.
Although Changxing Industrial also needs a production base like Singapore, the investor will definitely have the advantage in this kind of negotiation, so it will definitely need to obtain some other benefits in other fields.
Of course, even in other fields, on the surface, my own requirements are good for Singapore. Mutual cooperation is always the first factor for successful development. If you think about taking advantage of others directly, it will definitely not last long. count.
"Okay, I actually arranged for people to go to Singapore to check out suitable locations for investment and factory building before, and this time I just happened to go and have a look." Wei Zetao said with a smile.
Changxing Group will focus on investing in Singapore in the future. This matter is naturally classified as top secret to the outside world, but internally, the leaders of several first-level subsidiaries still know it. After all, large-scale investments also require many people to do preliminary investigations, preparations, and inquiries. , legal affairs and other matters.
Yang Wendong said: "Okay, let's go after it becomes stable there."
The time soon came to August 15th. On this day, many of the top executives and assistants of Changxing Group followed Yang Wendong and contracted two planes to fly to Singapore.
When the top Chinese consortium in Hong Kong arrived, Singaporean officials were very cautious and arranged a lively reception. After the scene, they arranged for Director Li to meet Yang Wendong.
"Hello, Director Li." Yang Wendong also said very politely.
Director Li also smiled and said: "Mr. Yang, although I have been in Singapore, I have heard your name for a long time. I admire you for being able to build what you are today from scratch."
Yang Wendong laughed and said: "Haha, the rumors may be a bit exaggerated."
"Yang Sheng is humble, please sit down." Director Li said again.
Then the two of them sat down. This was not an official meeting, but a private meeting to discuss cooperation intentions and so on. After a woman in formal attire served tea to the two of them, Director Li asked: "How does Mr. Yang think Singapore's future should develop?"
"Such a question is not something I, a small businessman, can answer casually." Yang Wendong said.
Director Li said: "It doesn't matter, I'm just asking. You also know that Singapore is now independent, and the government's focus must also be on economic development;
And a successful businessman like Yang Sheng must have his own unique opinions. Naturally, I want to ask you about this kind of thing. ”
Yang Wendong thought for a moment and said: "Director Li, based on Singapore's current situation, I think we need to develop the economy from three aspects;
The first is infrastructure, which is the foundation of any country's economy, such as various roads, water and electricity, oil, gas, communications, and Singapore's most important port. ”
Director Li replied: "Water is not a problem. Although Singapore is as short of water as Hong Kong, we have signed a supply agreement with the Malaysian government, so there is not a big problem in this regard;
As for electricity, as long as the demand increases, the government will naturally increase power plants, and Western countries will also sell power stations. Oil and gas are not a problem at the moment, and Southeast Asia itself is not in short supply; roads are simple, and they are basically enough at the moment. There will be more in the future. Just reinvest if needed.
As for ports, Singapore has always had one, and I also have plans to invest in a container terminal. However, due to limited funds, I can only take my time. ”
"As long as there are no problems with water, electricity, oil, gas and roads." Yang Wendong smiled and said: "Container terminals are indeed the future trend. If the Singapore government does not have enough funds, maybe I can contribute a little bit."
In this world, there are many things that are more profitable than docks, but they are basically industries formed through countless competitions;
It can be said that docks are not the most profitable, but they are the most stable. Especially in prime locations such as Singapore, Hong Kong, or some coastal cities in the mainland in the future, if you can win a dock, you can make money on your own.
And there is almost no burden, as long as the initial investment is in place, although there will be maintenance in the later stage, it is much smaller than other industries.
"Mr. Yang wants to invest in Singapore's container terminal?" Director Li did not expect this and was a little surprised.
Yang Wendong said: "Yes, in fact, I also want to invest in Hong Kong's terminals, but Director Li also knows that the biggest problem in building this container terminal is the large amount of manpower required for traditional terminals. Regarding this issue, many countries in Europe and the United States that once had large terminals or Cities failed to reform, but other places succeeded
Hong Kong is also encountering such problems now, and the overall economy has not been very good since the beginning of this year. Therefore, in a short period of time, even if I want to invest in Hong Kong, it will not work. ”
Before the 1960s, the London Terminal was the largest terminal in Europe and a transit center for goods from the United States to Europe. It controlled huge wealth, but it was impossible to convert it into a container terminal until Norway seized the opportunity and then There is no future. Although the Port of London was later converted into a container terminal, there was no chance and could only be turned into an ordinary terminal.
In fact, the same is true here in Hong Kong. Because the container terminal appeared a few years later, Singapore seized the opportunity and won a lot of container transshipment business. When the Hong Kong container terminal was built later, it was too late. Fortunately, the mainland and the Overseas transactions have begun to gradually increase, otherwise Hong Kong's dock trade may also decline.
You may not necessarily be able to change Hong Kong's economic and other problems in the next few years, but you can participate in Singapore's interests in advance. Anyway, without you, Singapore will definitely build a container terminal.
Director Li said: "Mr. Yang, I appreciate your willingness to invest in the terminal, but you also know that the terminal involves the core of the economy and cannot be handed over to foreign investment."
"Singapore doesn't have this law at the moment, right?" Yang Wendong asked: "Are the several terminals in Singapore currently controlled by British capital?"
Singapore has just been established. Although there was an autonomous state law in the early stage, it is very imperfect in many aspects. A country's laws are basically gradually optimized gradually. Many things are involved before they think of issuing corresponding laws.
Director Li said: "It is precisely because of this that the new container terminal will not be controlled by foreign capital."
"I don't need control, I just need to be a shareholder." Yang Wendong added: "I don't need management rights here to manage this, I just need to participate in the operation."
When opening a joint venture on someone else's territory, the eternal goal is to live in peace and benefit from each other, so it is unrealistic to pursue absolute management rights. Otherwise, if conflicts really arise, even if one's own side "wins", it is actually Big loss, people have control of the law and the state violence machine, and they have many ways to deal with you.
Especially now that it is the first container terminal company, Yang Wendong’s subordinates do not have a professional team, so they will naturally not pursue management rights; instead, they will take advantage of this opportunity to learn more relevant knowledge, so that they can compete for Hong Kong’s container terminals in the future. The local government and the British Hong Kong government will not take matters into their own hands. Only with the rise of Chinese capital in the future can we have the final say.
"I need to think about this too." Director Li did not refuse directly.
Yang Wendong continued: "Okay, I hope to get good news as soon as possible, and with our joint venture, Singapore will not need to borrow money from international banks. Although I don't know the content of the cooperation, some banks are not just independent commercial banks. .”
Anyone who has some knowledge of world financial history in the past life knows that a national monetary fund and a world bank are in the name of helping various countries, but they are financial weapons of the United States. While helping a country, they will inevitably come up with some things. Special conditions, such as in South Korea, after the 1997 financial crisis, various domestic industries were controlled by Wall Street financial giants, even Samsung.
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Writer's words
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