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Several limousine buses, escorted by police motorcycles, drove into Salisbury Road in Tsim Sha Tsui and stopped outside The Peninsula Hotel one after another.

The Peninsula is one of the most luxurious five-star hotels in Hong Kong and the oldest hotel in the city. When Hong Kong fell, Hong Kong Governor Yang Muqi took a small steamer and signed the surrender here. After the victory in World War II, it was in this hotel that the Japanese troops stationed in Hong Kong signed the instrument of surrender to the British, and this hotel became famous all over the world.

The bus door opened, and hundreds of white people in suits and leather shoes got out of the bus, and gathered in groups to enter the hotel lobby.

Such a large number of whites in groups did not attract the attention of others.

Because the people chatting on the seats by the fountain outside, and the guests who came and went in the hall, most of them were Caucasian people with strong perfumes and hair colors, and all of them were in English.

White people who work and do business in Hong Kong rarely communicate with the Chinese, and usually have their own places for dining, lodging, entertainment, and socializing. The Peninsula Hotel is one of the most famous places to visit, the most famous of which is the afternoon tea, where many ghosts come to watch the sea view and chat and laugh every afternoon tea time.

Edmund followed behind the group, smiling, and whispered to a chubby middle-aged man beside him.

As the child of a former bankrupt businessman, he was not eligible to stay in this luxury hotel. Fortunately, thanks to the blessing of being a member of this delegation, he was also arranged to live in, and he also followed the delegation, was warmly received by the Hong Kong government, and traveled throughout Hong Kong. But he is very aware of his position, never dares to compare himself to other members, always cautious in his words and deeds, courteous to each member, and works hard to manage his network.

"When exactly will we have to wait until we meet the Chinese? In the past few days, I have been receiving company documents through the hotel fax machine and handling official business in the room, which is too inconvenient. The chubby middle-aged man who spoke to Edmund took out his handkerchief, wiped the sweat from his neck, and complained vigorously.

This is an Oklahoma producer named Tolan. Rupert, a small electrical appliance factory with more than 500 workers, was only slightly higher than Edmund's. The two sat together on the plane, and the hotel rooms were also adjacent, so they walked closer to each other when they were on the tour with the group.

At least you still have official business to deal with.

Edmund sighed in his heart, but with a smile on his face, he said with relief: "I'm looking at it soon." Hong Kong is not that big, we have all traveled, and everything we should know is clear. Yesterday I heard lawyers representing those large companies approach the Hong Kong Administration Bureau and say that if the delegation is no longer allowed to contact the Chinese, they will protest. Didn't you see that today we only took a cursory walk around and returned to the hotel? Explain that next, you should get to the point. ”

The reason why the Americans have been pretending not to know and following the reception staff sent by the Hong Kong Government all over Hong Kong is certainly not because they have a good impression of the British.

As the rebellious descendants of the past, the British saw Americans as a bunch of nouveau riche; The Americans also sneered at these declining aristocracy, and neither side dealt with it.

However, the people sent by the Hong Kong government to contact him secretly reached an agreement with the representatives of several large companies in the delegation, so that the delegation could cooperate with the Hong Kong government's actions.

Although the content of the agreement is not public, everyone knows it.

The Hong Kong government said it intends to set up an electronics industrial park, and then give preferential treatment to the settled American companies in terms of land, water, electricity and taxes. At the same time, it is promised that the settled companies and the Hong Kong government administrative departments will jointly set up a park management committee to preside over the daily management of the industrial park.

If each of the settled companies sends a representative, then the management committee will naturally have an absolute advantage in the United States and the United Kingdom. As long as all companies unite and speak with the same voice, then the Chinese will not be able to control the right to speak, and can only obediently act as a supplier of parts, unable to take what they want.

The United States and Britain have long been proficient in using this kind of method, both in politics and business. You don't need to be told thoroughly by people from Hong Kong and Britain, you know it here. Driven by interests, the dirtiness between Britain and the United States is naturally no longer the main contradiction, and working together to overwhelm the Chinese and seize the right to speak on the portable tape recorder has become the main goal of both sides. After asking the headquarters, representatives of several large companies immediately hit it off, wore the same pants as the British authorities in Hong Kong, and cooled aside the Chinese who paid for them.

These small actions in the shadows, those small companies are not without complaints.

Even if the right to speak in the portable tape recorder market is controlled by the United States and Britain, a small force like them can only admire the last seat, watching large companies eat meat and they drink soup.

The Chinese, who are not as good as others, may be more just, and they will benefit more.

However, it is okay to complain, and to convince large companies to give away some of the fat in their mouths and distribute it to smaller companies, it is not even a matter of even thinking about it. It is better to consider whether to invest in Hong Kong in the future based on the results of these days, combined with their own strength and needs.

"Edmund, what do you think of this place in Hong Kong? Is it cost-effective to build a factory here? "It was very hot, and Rupert was a little fat, and he was sweating all the time, and he had just wiped the sweat, and the sweat was running down his head again, as if he had just been fished out of the water.

"Hong Kong, it's too hot!" Edmund shrugged his shoulders, and seeing Rupert's displeased expression, he quickly changed his words, "Just kidding!" As long as it makes me money, it's okay for me to open my company in the Sahara Desert. ”

His eyes were scattered, recalling what he had learned these days, and began to analyze it seriously: "To be honest, it can be said that there are pros and cons to setting up a factory in Hong Kong. ”

"Oh? Can you talk about that? ”

Hearing the conversation between the two, several members of the same small company approached with interest, and a man with brown hair who was about one meter eight tall asked loudly.

"Of course no problem!" Seeing so many people interested in his analysis, Edmund cheered up, this was a rare opportunity to make a network, and he didn't want to let it go, "Let's talk about the disadvantages first: the lack of high-quality skilled workers in Hong Kong is a big problem; Then there is the lack of enough electronics engineers; The per capita income is not high, and it is far away from the terminal consumer market in Europe and the United States; Hong Kong's laws may not be kind to us; Lack of large capital, financing difficulties; The most important one, there is a shortage of water here, and it is very lacking!

Let's analyze them one by one.

Hong Kong now has a population of 5 million, with 48 per cent of the population working in industry, a record high of 2.4 million. However, among these people, only half of them actually work in factories, about 1.2 million people, and most of them work in factories with low technical requirements such as textiles and garments, and enterprises with slightly higher technical requirements such as toys and clocks absorb only 13 percent, that is, between 200,000 and 300,000.

Workers of this level can only go to the assembly line, and it is obviously incompetent to let them do too precise work......"

The members of the delegation who listened around nodded their heads in agreement.

"Secondly, I learned that there are very few polytechnic universities in Hong Kong, only one is the Hong Kong Polytechnic. Other engineering schools include Kwai Chung Institute of Technology, Kwun Tong Institute of Technology, Construction Industry Training Authority, Garment Industry Training Authority, Wong Hak Kim Institute of Technology, these colleges were founded very short, the shortest Wong Hak Kim Institute of Technology was established last year, and the teaching materials are outdated, lack of qualified teachers, can only train primary industrial workers, as well as a small number of intermediate technicians, there is no scientific research talent capable of engaging in first-class research.

This makes it very difficult for factories to engage in electronic product assembly and assembly line production, and to do further product research and development. Unless we hire R&D personnel from Europe and the United States with high salaries, it is possible to set up a dedicated research team, but then our R&D costs will be higher than those in Europe and the United States. ”

He talked eloquently, and the number of members of the delegation gradually increased. In the process of inspection, everyone has their own judgment, and powerful companies will also organize special investment consultants to write inspection reports, but small companies do not have this power, so they pay more attention to the opinions of others.

The results of this expedition were related to whether Edmund would be able to revive the family business, so he took great care to gather every useful information during the expedition, and gradually put it together into a complete puzzle. The analysis he made is of great reference value to every company in front of him, and he is listening carefully.

"R&D is a big problem!"

"Hong Kong's industrial base is still a little weak, and it is okay to do some primary industry, but it needs to be developed in depth, but it cannot provide high-quality technical personnel."

The crowd whispered as they listened to Edmund's analysis.

"The third problem is that the income of local residents is not high, so they cannot become a place to consume products. Hong Kong's per capita GDP last year was HK$72,000, or about US$15,000. The per capita wage is 1,300 Hong Kong dollars, which is equivalent to about 276 US dollars, which is about one-third of the 800 US dollars monthly wage of American workers. Only Japan has a slightly higher income, with a per capita monthly income of around $600, and a total population of 110 million, half of the 220 million people in the United States. Finally, there is the Chinese mainland adjacent to Hong Kong, which has a larger population of one billion ......"

As soon as this number was reported, the audience was shocked, and many people showed greed in their eyes.

A billion people!

A thought involuntarily came to the minds of those present: so many people, even if each person buys a dollar of something, it is a huge number of one billion dollars!

"But that's just potential! Due to the lower income level in Chinese mainland, due to the lack of strict statistics, it is impossible to know accurate figures, and only a rough estimate can be obtained from the Hong Kong government report: the per capita income there is only 20 or 30 US dollars, and it is completely impossible to have a mature market for the time being.

In other words, our initial goals will still be to focus on the United States and Europe. However, Hong Kong is too far away from these two places, and to send goods there, it is necessary to pay sea freight, terminal storage fees, customs duties, and land freight fees through long sea routes, which increases the cost of sales......

The number of people gathered around was so large that it obstructed the passage of hotel guests, and the hotel had to come and ask them to move to the side of the rest area to talk and not disturb other guests.

After Edmund sat down, he continued: "Then there is the local water shortage, and as far as I know, Hong Kong's fresh water is not enough to meet the needs of residents, let alone industrial demand. As we all know, the electronics industry is a big water guster, and it takes 117 gallons to manufacture a square centimeter of single-sided printed circuit boards......

Rumble!

The members of the delegation around him became excited, and many of them were opening their mouths, intending to express their thoughts, and the scene suddenly became extremely chaotic.

The demand for water in the electronics industry is higher than that of the general industry.

Manufacturing a printed circuit board is only a preliminary step, and it requires 117 gallons of water, which is still single-sided, and now the increasingly popular double-sided board, which consumes twice as much water!; In addition, there are semiconductor separation devices, electronic components, and integrated circuits, which consume dozens of times, or even hundreds of times, of water than printed circuit boards!

Even the domestic water supply of residents cannot be guaranteed, how can the production needs of the factory be guaranteed?

What's more, the electronics industry has higher requirements for water quality, even if the water quality requirements for equipment cooling water are higher than ordinary domestic water. As for the process water, it is necessary to use specially prepared industrial pure water, and the process water accounts for half ~ 80% of the total water used by electronic enterprises, which is in great demand.

The members of the delegation could not believe that it was possible to develop an electronics industry in such a water-scarce place as Hong Kong, and they were all in an uproar.

"Then what else to investigate, such a place, there is no need to invest at all!"

"We've been in this wet and stuffy place for so long, and it's actually the result, we wouldn't have come if we knew it wouldn't have come!"

"Yes! I still left the company and came here, and there are still a lot of things waiting for me to deal with in the company, which is a waste of time! ”

"I can't say that, since Mr. Edmund has analyzed it so thoroughly, he also said the pros and cons just now, and now he only talks about the disadvantages, not the pros, we should still listen to it and then sit down and make a decision!"

Just when everyone was in a hurry to argue, the crowd was pushed away, and a reception staff sent by the Hong Kong government squeezed in sweating profusely, his face was red with anxiety, and he said loudly: "Sir, you are wrong!" We have enough water supply to meet the needs of developing the electronics industry, and there is absolutely no problem! ”