Chapter 446 Planning for a Container Terminal

Chapter 446 Planning for a Container Terminal

Chapter 446 Planning for a Container Terminal

In 1965, Hong Kong's real estate market plummeted, and it was not yet time to invest, so Changxing Real Estate was basically in a state of stagnation. At most, it collected rent and cooperated with several sister companies to build factories or buildings for its own use.

As for Changxing Shipping, we just need to manage the existing ships seriously and make a final effort to buy some more ships. After Yang Wendong sets the direction, there is no need to pay special attention to it.

Of the three core businesses of Changxing Group, only Changxing Industry is left. With the global sales of various small commodities, the entire factory has become busy. Many workers have to work overtime frequently, and the human resources department has to hire more 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."

"Mr. Yang, please take a seat first." Wei Zetao greeted him and said, "The feedback from the HR department is pretty good. The Hong Kong real estate market has fallen sharply and many construction workers have lost their jobs. Although these skilled workers may not come to us, many laborers or those who have been indirectly affected have come."

"Well, having enough manpower is a good thing." Yang Wendong said, "But with a large number of new people coming in, we must pay attention to the training of new people and quality control."

For small factories, quality issues are often dealt with perfunctorily, but for large companies, that is absolutely not acceptable. Quality is the lifeline, and once a problem occurs, the consequences will be very serious, because a problem in one place will be a blow to the entire brand.

Although Changxing Industrial's products are not as good as Watsons' foods in terms of quality, they should not be underestimated, after all, their products are sold all over the world.

Wei Zetao replied: "Don't worry, Mr. Yang, we already have a complete set of control measures for quality."

"Well, okay, what about Taiwan?" Yang Wendong asked again.

Wei Zetao replied: "The factory in Taiwan is also in normal production and is also expanding. Currently, Taiwan's production capacity is mainly used for export to Japan and the United States, while Hong Kong's is for the Commonwealth, Southeast Asia and other countries.

This is mainly due to the different tariffs in Hong Kong and Taiwan, as well as the distance of sea transportation. "

"This allocation is not bad, but there are still too many in Hong Kong." Yang Wendong continued, "Singapore will be established soon, and we can try to implement all our previous preparations."

Originally, Singapore was founded on August 1965, 8, and it is exactly the same now. For such a major event, the appearance of Yang Wendong will not change anything.

And now that it has been established, it means that the political situation is stable and the various political forces have maintained a good balance at the negotiation table. In this way, it is much safer for the capitalists. Although as a time traveler he knows that there is nothing wrong with this matter, he does not want to be involved in the vortex, so he has been waiting, at most making a small investment in the early stage or doing some investigation.

Wei Zetao said: "This is the best. Building a factory in Singapore will make it much more convenient to transport products 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 informed to the world in advance and requires the approval of the United Nations. The outside world basically knows about 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 with us. You should also be prepared.

Investing in a large factory in Singapore is very important to Singapore's economy today, but I also need to get some benefits from other areas. 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 had fled in large quantities in the previous few years due to political reasons. At this time, there was an urgent need for large factories like Changxing Industrial that could drive employment.

Although Changxing Industrial also needs a production base like Singapore, the investor will definitely have the upper hand in this kind of negotiation, so it must also obtain some other benefits in other areas.

Of course, even in other areas, our demands appear to be beneficial to Singapore on the surface. Mutual cooperation is always the first element for successful development. If we try to take advantage of others directly, that will definitely not be a long-term solution.

"Okay, I have actually arranged for people to go to Singapore to inquire about suitable locations for investment and factory construction. This time is a good opportunity for me to go and take a look." Wei Zetao said with a smile.

Changxing Group will focus on investing in Singapore in the future. This matter is naturally top secret to the outside world, but internally, the leaders of several first-level subsidiaries are all aware of it. After all, large-scale investment also requires a lot of people to do preliminary investigations, preparations, inquiries, legal affairs, etc.

Yang Wendong said: "Okay, let's go there after things stabilize."

Time soon came to August 8th. On that day, many top executives and assistants of Changxing Group followed Yang Wendong, contracted two planes, and flew to Singapore.

The Singaporean authorities were very cautious about the arrival of Hong Kong's top Chinese financial group and arranged a lively welcoming ceremony. After the ceremony, they arranged for a Director Li to meet with Yang Wendong.

"Hello, Director Li." Yang Wendong said very politely.

Director Li also smiled and said, "Mr. Yang, although I have been in Singapore, I have heard of your name for a long time. I admire you for being able to build today's achievements from scratch."

Yang Wendong laughed and said, "Haha, the rumors may be a bit exaggerated."

"Mr. Yang, you are too modest. Please take a seat." Director Li said again.

Then they both sat down. This was not an official meeting, but a private meeting to discuss cooperation intentions. After a woman in formal clothes served tea to the two, Director Li asked, "Mr. Yang, how do you think Singapore's future should develop?"

"As a small businessman, I can't answer this question casually," said Yang Wendong.

Director Lee said: "It's okay, I'm just asking. As you know, Singapore is now independent, and the government's focus must be on economic development.

A successful businessman like Mr. Yang must have his own unique views. I would naturally like to ask you for advice on this matter."

Yang Wendong thought for a moment and said, “Director Li, given Singapore’s current situation, I think we need to develop the economy in three areas;

The first is infrastructure, which is the foundation of any country's economy, such as various roads, water, electricity, oil, gas, communications, and Singapore's most important port."

Director Lee replied: “Water is not a problem. Although Singapore is short of water like Hong Kong, we have already signed a supply agreement with the Malaysian government, so there is no major problem in this regard.

As for electricity, as long as the demand increases, the government will naturally add power plants, and Western countries will also sell power stations. Oil and gas are not a problem at the moment, as Southeast Asia itself has no shortage of them. As for roads, it is simple, as they are basically sufficient at the moment, and we can just invest more when there is demand in the future.

As for ports, Singapore has always had them, and I also have plans to invest in a container terminal, but due to funding constraints, I can only take it slow.”

"As long as there are no problems with water, electricity, oil, gas and roads, it will be fine." Yang Wendong smiled and said, "Container terminals are indeed the trend of the future. If the Singapore government does not have enough funds, perhaps I can also help a little."

In this world, there are many things that make more money than docks, but they are basically industries formed after countless competitions;

It can be said that a wharf is not the most profitable, but it is 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 take over a wharf, you can be said to be making money without doing anything.

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 had not expected this and was a little surprised.

Yang Wendong said: "Yes, in fact, I also want to invest in Hong Kong's docks, but Director Li also knows that the biggest problem in the construction of this container terminal is the large amount of manpower in traditional docks. On this issue, many countries or cities in Europe and the United States that once had large docks have failed in reform, but other places have succeeded.

Hong Kong is also facing this problem now, and the overall economy has not been very good since the beginning of this year, so in the short term, even if I want to invest in Hong Kong, it is not possible.”

Before the 60s, London Docks was the largest dock in Europe and a transit center for goods between the United States and Europe. It held enormous wealth, but it wanted to convert it into a container terminal, but it was simply unable to do so until Norway seized the opportunity. After that, nothing happened. Although the Port of London was later converted into a container terminal, it no longer had the opportunity and could only become an ordinary dock.

The situation in Hong Kong was actually the same. Because the container terminal appeared a few years later, Singapore seized the opportunity and took over a lot of container transshipment business. When the Hong Kong container terminal was built later, it was also too late. Fortunately, transactions between the mainland and overseas began to gradually increase, otherwise the Hong Kong terminal trade might have declined.

I may not be able to change Hong Kong's economy and other problems in the next few years, but I can participate in Singapore's interests in advance. Anyway, whether I am there or not, Singapore will definitely build a container terminal.

Director Li said: "Mr. Yang, I am very grateful that you are willing to invest in the wharf, but you also know that the wharf involves the core of the economy and cannot be handed over to foreign capital."

"Singapore doesn't have such a law at present, right?" Yang Wendong asked, "The several docks in Singapore were once controlled by British capital, right?"

Singapore has just been established. Although it has autonomous state laws in the early stage, many aspects are very imperfect. The laws of a country are basically optimized gradually, and many things are involved before they are considered to introduce 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 invest." Yang Wendong added: "As for management, I don't need management rights, I just need to participate in operations."

When you start a joint venture on someone else's territory, the eternal goal is to live in peace and benefit each other. Therefore, it is unrealistic to forcibly pursue absolute management rights. Otherwise, if a conflict really occurs, even if you "win", you have actually lost a big loss. Others have control over the law and the state violence apparatus, and there are many ways they can use to deal with you.

Especially as it is the first container terminal company now, Yang Wendong does not have a professional team under him, so naturally he will not pursue management rights; instead, he takes this opportunity to learn more relevant knowledge, so that he can compete for Hong Kong's container terminal in the future. With the British Hong Kong government not interfering and the rise of Chinese capital in the future, he will be able to 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 soon. If we form a 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, a world bank, is in the name of helping various countries, but it is actually a financial weapon of the United States. While helping a country, it will inevitably put forward some special conditions. For example, in the past, South Korea, after the financial crisis in 1997, various domestic industries were controlled by Wall Street financial giants, even Samsung.

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Writer's words
(End of this chapter)