Chapter 452 Progress of Singapore Investment
The time soon came to October. Tape-type music players gradually gained a group of customers in the Hong Kong market, which also promoted the development of tapes. In Bay Area, Singapore or some areas where Chinese people in Southeast Asia live, they soon also had The Honor brand tape player imported from Hong Kong.
When he saw the report of Honor Electronics again, Yang Wendong praised: "You are quite fast, aren't you? You have covered more than a dozen Chinese residential areas in Southeast Asia so quickly?"
Wang Zhiqun replied: "Yang Sheng, it is mainly because Changxing Trading has specifically targeted Chinese residential areas in Southeast Asia and prioritized opening up local dealer channels in these areas;
Therefore, whether it is Changxing Culture's comics, some of my electrical appliances, or some other services within the group, we can enter the Gulf, Singapore and these Chinese regional markets as quickly as possible. ”
"Well, they are doing very well. The Chinese over there are similar to us Hong Kong people in many aspects of consumption and cultural habits." Yang Wendong nodded and said.
Liu Huayu, who was next to him, also said: "Yes, Zou Wenhuai and Zou Sheng are also planning to invest in building cinemas in these places, but I can't do it here because the locations are too scattered and there is no way to build supermarkets independently."
"Supermarkets are indeed different from cinemas. Cinemas can change locations at will, but supermarkets must be concentrated." Yang Wendong said: "Carrefour cannot expand in a hurry. It must be steady and steady overseas, and just conquer the Singapore market first;
When this market stabilizes, we will gradually start with Singapore as the center and enter the neighboring Malaysian market one by one. ”
The distance between theaters is not a problem at all, because the only transportation costs are film or business trips for employees, etc. But supermarkets are completely different. Distance is the core factor that determines most costs.
Even Wal-Mart has gradually expanded since the 1960s, starting from its own Arkansas, and then entering surrounding states, step by step;
Not to mention, when the supermarket industry enters overseas markets, judging from the experience of so many international supermarkets in the previous life, it is basically a narrow escape, and few companies can do well in markets outside the local market.
Of course, this is also because global supermarkets basically developed in the 1960s and 1970s. After a supermarket has spent more than ten or twenty years conquering the local market, it is difficult to enter other markets and challenge local brands from other places.
Nowadays, Southeast Asia is basically a blank area for supermarkets. This gives Carrefour an opportunity to firmly establish itself in the Southeast Asian market. However, the characteristics of supermarkets determine that it cannot expand rapidly. Strong capital will help in this regard, but Also limited.
Liu Huayu replied: "Understood, I have selected 16 places in Singapore, and the land has been purchased. The infrastructure construction of the first few supermarkets will be completed at the beginning of next year, and they will open in March or April next year."
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"Are the supplies shipped from Hong Kong?" Yang Wendong asked again.
Liu Huayu replied: "Yes, we currently have no procurement chain in Singapore, and the local industry is not very good. It only involves agricultural products, which are imported from Malaysia next door."
"Is there any problem with shipping?" Yang Wendong asked next.
Liu Huayu said: "No problem. I have also purchased a large warehouse in Singapore, which can store a large amount of materials. Hong Kong is also preparing various goods. When the time is almost right, they will be shipped there through Changxing Shipping in one go, saving money. It takes a lot of time and cost, otherwise, you will definitely lose money if you use normal transportation.”
"Okay, it's good for brother companies to cooperate with each other." Yang Wendong said: "But we can't let Changxing Shipping lose money. It's best to achieve a win-win situation."
Liu Huayu said with a smile: "Yang Sheng, don't worry, Changxing Shipping will not lose money. The reason why we can save money is because we use normal shipping. Other shipping companies will not cooperate with our various times. If we ship in multiple times, sea shipping The cost is high, as are various transportation costs and time costs.
And if we cooperate well, Changxing Shipping will not lose money, and I will save a lot of energy and time. It can be said to be a win-win situation. ”
"Okay, you will also cooperate with Changxing Shipping more in the future." Yang Wendong added: "But we must establish a local industrial chain in Singapore or several neighboring Southeast Asian countries as soon as possible. Only when the industrial chain there is developed, can our supermarket With the foundation to expand elsewhere in Southeast Asia”
Although I really want to support Hong Kong industry and even mainland light industry, if I want to make money in other people's territory, I must leave some benefits in these places. This is ZZ, and even if there is no such factor, various transportation costs alone will suffice. Doesn’t make sense.
Even in the era of containers + high-efficiency communications in the previous life, the industrial chain also pursued concentration, and the variety of supermarket procurement chains was much more cumbersome than that of industry. In this era of particularly high transportation costs, even if you have your own ship, you must To achieve localized production as soon as possible, a small number of goods with large quantities and low transportation costs can be purchased from other places.
Liu Huayu replied: "Understood, Yang Sheng, I have also arranged the purchasing department to find suitable suppliers near Singapore and Malaysia."
Yang Wendong added: "Well, Changxing Real Estate's investment project in Singapore has made some progress recently. You can help each other like Hong Kong in the future."
"That would be even better." Liu Huayu smiled and said: "Yang Sheng, our group is in Singapore, can we get some media resources?"
"This is a bit difficult." Yang Wendong shook his head and said: "Singapore has very strict control over the media. Media and communications require talents with Singaporean nationality."
"If we had the media, it would be much easier to promote our business." Liu Huayu said sadly.
Yang Wendong said: "Direct is not possible. You can try indirect. But in the short term, you still need yourselves. In fact, as long as the advertising fees are in place, newspapers will not refuse to accept orders."
In some sensitive areas, Singapore has stricter controls than Hong Kong. After all, the former is a formal country and will not allow foreign capital to manipulate the media. This is also the global norm.
But it is possible for foreign capital to control indirectly. After all, it only needs to find an obedient local to open a newspaper office, and then cooperate in other fields to give the other party certain benefits. Under normal circumstances, they will cooperate. Of course, Yang Wendong I will not participate in things on ZZ, I just want to obtain advertising resources.
But don’t even think about TV stations. Any country will strictly monitor it. Only people with good backgrounds can obtain it. It may even be that state-owned enterprise management rather than considering obtaining TV station licenses from Southeast Asian countries, it is better to wait another ten years and transmit TVB through satellite signals. It is more reliable to go to Southeast Asia.
Liu Huayu replied: "Okay, I will also arrange for someone to visit a well-known local newspaper office."
A few days later, on October 6, Yang Wendong met Zheng Zhijie and Wei Zetao who had just returned from Singapore.
"Yang Sheng, the scenery on the top floor is really good." Zheng Zhijie said: "The last time I came here was two years ago, and it feels like a lot has changed in one year."
"You are in real estate. You still don't know how much Hong Kong has changed in recent years." Yang Wendong said with a smile.
From the top floor of Changxing Building, you can see most of Hong Kong, so occasionally Yang Wendong will arrange for people to set up tables and chairs here to enjoy the beautiful scenery, taste the food, and chat about some things. It feels very good. It's just that the summer in Hong Kong is too long. It's rare that it's not so hot for a few months. The wind is relatively strong most of the time, so it's rarely possible to come up. Today is just right, the sun is not hot and the wind is not strong.
Zheng Zhijie replied: "Yes, that is to say, real estate prices have dropped a lot this year, otherwise the changes would be more obvious."
"Hong Kong is expected to continue to fall for a while." Yang Wendong added: "I am optimistic about Singapore. They are very much like Hong Kong in 1958. Economic development has restarted, and the government has formulated good policies. And there are so many There are more Chinese people, and it is estimated that it will catch up with Hong Kong in ten years.”
Zheng Zhijie also agreed and said: "Yes, I also need to report to Yang Sheng on the progress in Singapore during this period."
"Okay, tell me." Yang Wendong said.
Zheng Zhijie replied: "The first thing is our Four Seasons Hotel and Changxing Plaza. The Singapore government has approved our investment, and the land was also chosen by us before. You have also seen those two locations, Yang Sheng;
When it comes to demolition, according to Singapore law, the government is responsible for demolition, so we need to wait for them to complete the demolition before they can transfer it to us. ”
Yang Wendong asked: "Has the price been negotiated?"
Zheng Zhijie said: "The two pieces of land cost a total of US$5.5 million."
"It's quite cheap." Yang Wendong said: "The original bidding price for the Four Seasons Hotel in Hong Kong exceeded this figure."
The land area of the Four Seasons Hotel in Singapore is much larger than that in Hong Kong, and Changxing Plaza, as a commercial plaza, is naturally larger.
Zheng Zhijie smiled and said: "Yang Sheng, this is hard to compare. The current housing and land prices in Singapore are actually not as good as those in Hong Kong in 1958. Moreover, Singapore has just been founded and is attracting foreign investment. There are also discounts on land."
At this time, Wei Zetao next to him also said: "Yes, Singapore is much better than Hong Kong in this area. The land for my factory is free, and we can even negotiate tax exemptions in previous years."
The Hong Kong government claims to be a free market, so the government will not support industry. No matter what kind of capital, no one can take advantage of this area. If the Chinese had not worked hard on their own, Hong Kong would not have the industrial strength it has today.
"Hong Kong is indeed not as good as Singapore." Yang Wendong agreed.
In fact, if the British in Hong Kong had been more responsible in the 1980s, controlled housing prices, and guided and supported Hong Kong's industry, then transformation would have been possible. Of course, there are many reasons for this, and the British Hong Kong government cannot be entirely blamed.
Zheng Zhijie continued: "As long as the land is obtained, the two commercial buildings can start construction."
Yang Wendong nodded and asked: "What about the pier?"
Zheng Zhijie replied: "As for the terminal, the Singapore government has not vetoed our investment request, but it has limited our shares to no more than 25%, which means we can only become a minority shareholder. The Singapore government has the final say on the future operation of the terminal.< br>
However, they also agreed that our people can participate in part of the management and operation of the container terminal. Their reason is simple because we have no relevant experience. ”
"25%? That's okay, agree to it." Yang Wendong thought for a moment and said: "It is indeed difficult to win management rights. This time, I will treat it as a learning experience. We also need a large number of internal teams who are proficient in container terminal operations, so that we can Gain advantage in terminal investments elsewhere, including Hong Kong, and other terminals in the future.”
A large port has more than one terminal, as those who have known Shanghai Pudong Terminal will know. The future Kwai Chung Port in Hong Kong will have a total of 9 terminals.
At the moment, I only have a little capital. If it weren't for the fact that it's very early and containers are not yet very popular, if I had to wait a few more years, it would be very difficult to participate in overseas terminal investments without any resources.
Now that we are gradually laying the foundation, we can learn from Li Jiacheng in his previous life and control enough global terminals. You must know that unless the global economy collapses, it is impossible for various ports to lose money.
"Okay, then I will negotiate the price with the Singaporean authorities." Zheng Zhijie replied.
Yang Wendong asked again: "These three projects cost a lot of money. How are we going to do it financially?"
It is impossible to use your own funds to build large-scale projects, whether they are docks, large hotels, shopping malls, etc., or even future highways, bridges, etc. If this is the case, the world's richest man will not be able to invest much and will definitely lose money. .
We can only use the bank's funds, invest a little by ourselves, use leverage to get the project off the ground, and then operate it and slowly pay off the debt.
Zheng Zhijie said: "I have contacted the branches of Overseas Chinese Bank, Citibank and Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore. The three of them will jointly provide financing for our three projects;
However, which bank will participate in which projects, what proportion of loans will be taken out, how the mortgage and interest will be paid, etc., have not yet been negotiated. It is too early and it is only an intention at the moment. After all, the three projects have not yet been fully implemented. ”
"That's right, just have a preliminary intention." Yang Wendong nodded and said: "After we confirm with the Singapore government, we will ask Bei Jinming to design the hotel and shopping mall, but we also need to find several other companies. Inquiry;
As for the port, let the Singapore government be responsible for it. Our people are involved and have to learn everything about it, including terminal site selection, construction, mechanical and electrical equipment selection, and subsequent operations. ”
"Okay, I have also hired people from existing container terminals in Europe and the United States." Zheng Zhijie said: "When Singapore is built, our workers and engineers from Hong Kong can also participate."
"Okay, that's it." Yang Wendong said: "Let all projects be implemented as soon as possible."
PS: Asking for a monthly ticket
(End of chapter)