In an environment where foreign investment continued, if they could attract investment from the neighboring Future Group, it would be an attractive option for Malaysia, which was eager to recover its economy. With Future Group's expansion speed, it would be impossible to find anyone else in the world.
In order to ride on the rocket that was advancing by leaps and bounds, Malaysia sent a delegation to Xin for the third time.
This time, it was a prestigious member of Malaysia's House of Commons, as well as the economic development advisor of Papua Province. Although the visitor this time was not as powerful as the previous two times, the visitor had the dual background of the Malaysian government and local government. This also meant that he had enough chips on him.
Also, the guy's name was Yu Weida, and he was Han.
Han was not uncommon in Malaysia, but in Malaysia's political scene, he was undoubtedly a panda-level presence.
"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Jiang Chen. I've heard a lot about you."
As soon as they met, Yu Weida, in a suit, enthusiastically extended his hand and greeted Jiang Chen. After some small talk, with Jiang Chen's invitation, the member of parliament sat on the sofa in the reception room. The receptionist poured two cups of tea for the two of them.
Based on the basic protocol of a diplomatic visit, he already shook hands with the Xin president at the presidential palace. But at this moment, when facing Jiang Chen, his expression and movements were still very reserved. It was obvious that he did his homework before he came and knew that the person in front of him was the real ruler of Xin.
"I believe Mr. Jiang already knows the purpose of my visit. Minister Finik already expressed our welcome to your investment in Malaysia." Yu Weida paused, looked at Jiang Chen with his bright eyes and said sincerely, "What do you think?"
"To be honest, I'm still considering." Jiang Chen took a sip of tea, smiled, and said calmly.
Yu Weida wasn't discouraged as he joked with Jiang Chen. "As the saying goes, three visits can show sincerity. We've already visited three times. Mr. Jiang wouldn't let us return empty-handed, right?"
That was hard to say.
Future Group was doing well in New Guinea. Whether it was the local government or the New Guinea government, they all "protected" his assets. Recently, the port government was discussing whether or not to approve Celestial Trade's Marine Corps' application to build an "employee signature base" in the port. If the application was approved, Celestial Trade would be able to obtain sufficient soldiers from New Guinea. The yearning for Xin would certainly drive many New Guineans to sign up.
After all, if the islanders with a low level of education wanted to move to Coro Island where the immigration threshold was gradually increasing, the only way was to join the army.
Jiang Chen looked at Yu Weida with a half-smile. "Looks like Mr. Yu is very familiar with Han culture."
"Of course. My ancestors were Chinese merchants who settled in Kuala Lumpur during the Republic of China. After that, they moved to West Papua Province." Yu Weida smiled.
"Then you should know that Liu Bei promised Zhuge Liang the position of Prime Minister." After a pause, Jiang Chen leaned forward slightly and smiled at him. "So, what can you give me?"
"Mr. Jiang, you can't just look at the benefits." Yu Weida spread his hands helplessly. "After all, I'm representing a country. This is the third time we've invited you. Even if it's Apple Group, we don't invite you this much. "
"What was Malaysia's GDP last year?"
"312.7 billion USD," Yu Weida answered quickly.
"Future Group's market cap is 500 billion, and this is only a conservative estimate on Wall Street." This was only an estimate on Wall Street. If it was based on Jiang Chen's price, the number would at least double.
"What you're saying is too …" Yu Weida sorted out the words in his mind before he said with a bitter smile, "Too unreasonable."
"There's nothing unreasonable about it." Jiang Chen waved his hand and sat up straight. He looked at the Malaysian parliament member in front of him. "I'm a businessman. Whether I invest or not depends on what you can provide me."
"We have the world's third largest labor market, and the overall economy is doing well. Currently, ASEAN is the third largest power in Asia, and Malaysia is undoubtedly the leader of ASEAN. If you can invest here, we're willing to provide you with loans, land, talent recruitment, and a series of other conveniences … "
"But your labor costs are higher than theirs." Jiang Chen laughed. "Take the steel plant as an example. Including overtime pay, New Guinea's workers only receive 750 USD per month, but your basic salary without overtime pay is above 800 USD."
"It's not fair to only discuss the average salary. Our country's education level is a level higher than theirs," Yu Weida explained.
But Jiang Chen didn't buy his argument.
"Do you need to be educated to operate a boiler? You just need to be literate. " Jiang Chen paused before he continued, "What's more, we'll send at least five technicians to each steel plant. As long as we provide proper production guidance, even if the workers' education level is low, it's completely acceptable for our group. "
Yu Weida secretly gritted his teeth. He knew that if he didn't come up with some attractive proposals, this negotiation wouldn't have any results. Although the parliament and the local government already told him their bottom line before he came, taking out the chips so early wouldn't be good for bargaining.
"One year of tax exemption!"
"New Guinea gave us three years."
"Then we'll also have three years!" Yu Weida remembered the ore order agreement between Jiang Chen and BHP Group. "Also, limited to the ports in Papua, Future Group will be exempted from three years of iron, aluminum, nickel, and copper ore import taxes. As long as your investment in Malaysia exceeds 2 billion USD. "
When Jiang Chen heard this, he was slightly moved.
They even exempted the import taxes! This way, Future Group could save at least 200 million USD each year! With Future Group's aggressive business expansion, cash flow was still a bit tight. If he could save this amount of money, he could allocate the budget to other projects that burned more money.
But, just exempting the ore import tax was not enough to convince Jiang Chen. Unless they could come up with something even more beneficial …
"You almost convinced me," Jiang Chen said.
"Can I know where I'm lacking?"
Seeing Jiang Chen's appetite, Yu Weida began to feel displeased.
He already offered all the benefits he could. If Future Group still didn't agree, he didn't plan to continue the negotiation.
"I admit your offer is tempting, but." Jiang Chen suddenly changed the topic. "We've already invested 1.7 billion USD worth of assets in New Guinea, and there's another 5 billion USD worth of investment in the future. If we gave up 2 billion USD worth of investment because of a policy bonus worth 200 million USD, if you were in my position, would you make this obviously unprofitable decision? "
5 billion more!
Yu Weida held his breath.
He didn't notice the second half of Jiang Chen's sentence because his attention was completely captured by the first half.
"What do you want?" Yu Weida murmured.
"I'll add one more to the previous offer, a special pass." Jiang Chen raised a finger. "All Future Group's trucks and employees will be able to travel freely on the border between Malaysia's Papua and New Guinea. You will need to complete immigration procedures and pay taxes- "
"That's impossible!" Yu Weida exclaimed.
That's impossible! That's impossible! Not only was it related to tariffs, but it was also related to national security! Even if Future Group had enough weight, the parliament would never agree to such an absurd proposal.
But Jiang Chen didn't care as he extended his hand.
"If possible, I hope we can work well together."
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