Chapter 205 Meeting with the Governor and Investment Conditions

Chapter 205 Meeting with the Governor and Investment Conditions

Chapter 205 Meeting with the Governor and Investment Conditions

"Governor of Hong Kong?" Yang Wendong's heart moved. He had actually anticipated that this situation might happen.

Elena on the other end of the phone said: "Yes, the secretary of the Governor's Office will ask you to go to the Governor's Office at 3 am on March 9, and then you can have lunch with the Governor.

I don’t know the details of the other matters. The people at the Governor’s Office don’t know you and are afraid that you don’t believe them. It’s because you contacted the government department through me that they contacted you through me.”

"Okay, then I will definitely arrive on time." Yang Wendong promised.

Since you are working under the British Hong Kong government, you don't have to please them, but at least you have to maintain a good relationship with them, which is in your own interest.

Although British foreigners are generally not good people, after World War II, the international situation changed and the British Hong Kong government, to a certain extent, hoped to turn Hong Kong into the Pearl of the Orient in the Far East. In this regard, it is at least in the interests of most Hong Kong citizens.

After the call ended, Su Yiyi, who was already quite pregnant, asked, "Governor Parker wants to see you."

"It's not Governor Pak." Yang Wendong said with a smile, "His name is Ricky Pak, an English name."

The current Governor of Hong Kong is Robert Black, but some Hong Kong people are used to giving foreigners Chinese names. Black is also a surname, so some people are used to calling him Governor Black.

"Many people outside call it that." Su Yiyi smiled and asked, "Then the Governor is looking for you because of our 10,000-person industrial park plan."

"Of course. What could be more important than providing employment for tens of thousands of people?" Yang Wendong nodded.

Although Britain or other former powers colonized many countries and regions for the economic benefits of their own countries, they did not care what would happen to the local people. Only a few people like Elena might be a little special.

But for the sake of stable rule, the colonists also need to maintain regional stability, especially the British Hong Kong government. The reason they can still stay in Hong Kong is not because Britain has the ability to colonize here, but it is a compromise after the international ZZ.

Therefore, maintaining employment for local people is also a top priority for any colonial government. Otherwise, if things get out of control, there will be enormous international pressure from public opinion. Even the United States will add insult to injury, because the Americans wanted to break down the trade barriers of British colonies a long time ago.

Su Yiyi said: "Then you have to wear better clothes."

"Well, okay." Yang Wendong thought for a moment and said, "Let's go to Lane Crawford to buy some clothes. Your belly is getting bigger and bigger, so it's time to buy some more."

"Well, it's a good opportunity to take a look at the child's future clothes." Su Yiyi nodded and said.

The two soon arrived at the Lane Crawford store on Queen's Road in Central.

This is currently the most high-end shopping mall in Hong Kong and belongs to the Wheelock Group.

After selecting a few sets of clothes, Su Yiyi said, "Brother Dong, I feel that most of these clothes tend to be more suitable for foreigners."

"That's normal. Most of the foreigners nowadays are rich." Yang Wendong replied.

Although Hong Kong's wealth is gradually shifting to Chinese groups, the mainstream is still British capital. In particular, with the rise of Chinese financial groups, wealth is too concentrated. Currently, only a small number of Chinese are considered wealthy groups, and most of the others can only maintain basic food and clothing.

Su Yiyi nodded and said, "It would be nice if there was a clothing store specifically for Chinese people."

Yang Wendong smiled and said, "Maybe, when you get bored in the future, you can open a few stores like this in Hong Kong?"

"I want to open a store?" Su Yiyi asked in surprise, "But I don't know anything."

Yang Wendong shrugged and said, "Do you think I know glue or building houses? Can I have my own business?
This kind of investment is just for fun, just find someone to take care of it seriously."

In the past, many wealthy wives and celebrities in Hong Kong would open their own brand clothing stores. As long as you had money, you could enter this industry, and the threshold was very low.

Of course, most will fail and lose money, but that’s also because the rent is too expensive. For me, if I buy the property early on, I won’t lose money no matter how I run it later.

"Oh, okay, this way it will be more convenient for us to buy clothes ourselves." Su Yiyi nodded and said.

"Yeah." Yang Wendong didn't care. It was just a small matter.

Whether it is hotels, clothing, supermarkets or other terminal service industries, the eternal problem is rent. As long as you buy a house in the early stage, it will be difficult to fail later.

However, if you want to expand, you have to invest heavily even in the early stages. There is no rush at the moment. You can slowly stock up on properties in Hong Kong. When you have more properties, collecting rent or doing whatever you want will not be a problem.

After a while, the two picked out their clothes and left.

On March 3, Yang Wendong arrived at the Governor's House.

Of the convoy of five cars, only the one Yang Wendong was in was allowed to enter, and a safety check was carried out for a while.

After confirming that there was no problem, the car was parked and a white guy wearing black glasses came to greet Yang Wendong.

"Hello, Mr. Yang." The foreigner shook hands politely and said, "I am Siegel, the secretary of the Governor's Office. I am here to take you to meet the Governor, Mr. Robert Black."

"Okay, thank you." Yang Wendong also politely shook hands.

Siegel then took Yang Wendong into the Hong Kong government office building and came to a room at the deepest part.

There was a white blond woman about 30 years old at the door. After seeing Siegel and Yang Wendong behind him, she reported by phone and let the two in.

Inside the Governor's office, a tall and thin man stood up after seeing the visitor and said with a smile: "This is the sticky note king, Mr. Yang, right? I have heard of your name a long time ago;
In Chinese, it means that heroes emerge young. "

"Hello, Governor." Yang Wendong said politely, "I am honored that you know me. Governor, you are one of the best governors since the founding of Hong Kong."

This statement is not really flattery. As for the word "one of", we don't know what the denominator is anyway.

And Robert Black was a pretty good guy. This Governor of Hong Kong was the Governor of Singapore before coming to Hong Kong. During his tenure, he resolved many constitutional crises and participated in autonomy negotiations, thus maintaining the dignity of the British Empire and avoiding possible military conflicts.

After coming to Hong Kong 58 years ago, although he did not rectify the administration and corruption as well as MacLehose did, he also made a lot of achievements, especially the introduction of low-rent housing, the construction of many hospitals and schools, and the negotiation with the mainland to buy water to solve Hong Kong's long-standing water shortage problem.
"Haha, you're too polite, Mr. Yang." Bai Liji was very happy to hear the praise, and then said, "Please sit down." "Thank you." Yang Wendong replied.

After the two sat down and exchanged pleasantries for a while, Robert Black went straight to the point: "Mr. Yang, I think you also know that the problem of massive unemployment in Hong Kong has become a difficult problem for the Hong Kong government and even Hong Kong society. The Hong Kong government now has to invest millions every month to help these people.

Since your company also intends to build a large industrial park, I would like to promote the implementation of this project as soon as possible.”

"One million?" Yang Wendong was a little surprised and asked, "Kwun Tong shouldn't need so much money, right?"

Robert Black shook his head and said, “The issue in Kwun Tong is just one of the problems. Maybe Mr. Yang hasn’t paid attention to it. In recent years, the number of refugees coming to Hong Kong has been particularly large, with tens of thousands of people coming every month.
In addition, many people in Hong Kong are unemployed, so the Hong Kong government's expenditure in this regard is very large."

"Refugees?" Yang Wendong nodded. There have been a lot of people coming to Hong Kong in recent years.

However, these people are actually the driving force for Hong Kong's future economic development, because many of them are educated. With their continuous influx, the labor cost of Hong Kong's manufacturing industry will not increase like other countries and regions, thereby driving the development of the industry.

However, the first few years will definitely be difficult and a challenge for the entire society. If hundreds of thousands of young people cannot get enough to eat, it will probably keep people in the British Hong Kong government awake at night.

"Yes, you know what's going on." Bai Liji said, "I won't say more."

"Well, okay." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "Then I'll just say it straight. As a Hong Konger, if I want to expand my factory on a large scale, the first choice is naturally Hong Kong;

But there are many problems with choosing Hong Kong now. The most basic one is land. Hong Kong lacks large areas of flat land. Even if there is, it has already been used. This is very unfavorable for the development of large-scale industries. "

Robert Black agreed and said, "Mr. Yang is right, but we can only say that Hong Kong Island and southern Kowloon lack such land. There is still no shortage of such land in the northern New Territories."

Yang Wendong shook his head and said, "There is no shortage of resources there, but there is no infrastructure, no people, and no roads. It is impossible to set up a factory there."

A few decades later, when housing prices in Hong Kong are high, if some of his manufacturing industries can still remain in Hong Kong, he will also consider moving to the northern New Territories in his previous life, which is near Tin Shui Wai, which is close to the deep sea and can take advantage of the industrial chain on the opposite side.

But now I have water in my brain and it is impossible to choose that place.

Robert Black agreed and said, "Yes, we have plans to develop that area, but it takes too long. At present, places like Kwun Tong and Tseung Kwan O meet Mr. Yang's requirements."

"Yes, since there is an urgent need in Kwun Tong, I can go and invest."

Yang Wendong paused and said, "But the land issue must be resolved. Last month I asked the officials in Taiwan, and they said that as long as I invest, the land will be completely free, and the location is also near Taipei City."

Although it is impossible for him to invest in Taiwan at this time, it does not mean that he cannot ask. If he receives an invitation or request from there, he can also put pressure on the Hong Kong government.

For places with enough land to attract a large industry, free land is only the most basic requirement. When Foxconn was at its peak in the past, wherever the local government invested, almost all the land was free and the local government also provided a large subsidy from the fiscal budget.

Mr. Black did not answer directly, but asked: "Where in Kwun Tong do you want to build this industrial park?"

"Wait a moment." Yang Wendong took out a map of Kwun Tong from his briefcase, pointed to a location and said, "Here."

"There should be a lot of demolitions involved in this location, right?" said Bai Liji after seeing the location.

Yang Wendong nodded and said, “Yes, so I also want to acquire a piece of residential land nearby, and then build a community, and then compensate these more than 600 households according to the area ratio.

And if they don’t want to live in the house I provide, they can also pay cash at market price.”

The location he chose was naturally the best, being close to the coast and the central area of ​​Kwun Tong. The price was that there were more people living here originally. Fortunately, they were all self-built houses and there were no developed commercial areas, otherwise it would be troublesome.

Such a location is extremely valuable even in Kwun Tong. After all, the area is large enough. When Hong Kong's low-end industries move to the mainland in the future, if we find a way to convert it into commercial land, it is possible that it will be worth hundreds of billions.

"That's a good idea." Bai Liji nodded.

Yang Wendong added: "As for commercial demolition, I hope the Hong Kong government can step in as a government official. This way, the process will be much faster. Once they complete the demolition, we can start building a factory right away. The demand for construction workers alone will create a lot of jobs."

For a simple commercial demolition, it would be very troublesome if many people disagree or insist on a high price; but it would be much simpler if the government stepped in.

"Okay, that's no problem." Barry didn't think much about it. The most important thing now was to create enough jobs to meet the needs of a large number of refugees, at least to ensure that they would not starve to death.

Yang Wendong added: "As for transportation, I also ask the Hong Kong government to build a road from here to the Kowloon Wharf, with at least four lanes in both directions."

"That's fine." Robert Black thought about it and agreed. The Hong Kong government has to repair roads every year, and now it only needs to change one of them.

Yang Wendong asked again: "Then the only thing left is the land price. This price is too high and we can't accept it."

Robert White asked again, "How much area do you want?"

"1000 million feet." Yang Wendong said loudly.

In fact, after calculation, 600-800 million square feet is enough, and this is because many large injection molding equipment cannot be placed on the second floor and can only be placed on the first floor;
Other positions such as assembly can be located at higher levels, which can save a lot of land area.

However, in this era, Yang Wendong would naturally take as much as he could. Even such a large area of ​​land could not be bought even with money without any legitimate reason.

After pondering for a moment, Robert Black said, "Mr. Yang, it is impossible to give you the land in Hong Kong for free. Even if I am the Governor of Hong Kong, I don't have this right. But I will discuss it with the Governor and others.
We will discuss with you the specific area and price after we have agreed on it. "

"Okay." Yang Wendong smiled and said, "I hope it can be done as soon as possible so that the industrial park can be built sooner, which will be beneficial to all three of us."

Hong Kong's industry was able to develop rapidly 45 years later. In addition to a lot of capital coming from the mainland, another reason was that taxes were particularly light. This was also a deliberate move by the Hong Kong government at the time, in order to attract many capitalists to open factories, thereby driving employment and stabilizing a large number of idle young people.

However, the government also needs fiscal revenue, so selling land is one of the lifelines of the Hong Kong government. This is a matter of principle. It is almost impossible to acquire a large piece of land for free.

But as long as the price is very low, it is acceptable. In the long run, its value is thousands of times higher than the free land in Taiwan.

PS: Please give me a monthly ticket
(End of this chapter)