Rayong City was just a small coastal city in Thailand a few years ago and was not very eye-catching.
After becoming the ASEAN Free Trade Area in the past two years, it has developed extremely rapidly. Although it cannot be compared with Bangkok, Chiang Mai, and Chiang Rai, it has become a city that cannot be ignored in Thailand and even ASEAN.
This has also become the city with the most foreign investment in Thailand in the past two years, especially Xiangjiang capital, real estate, finance, logistics, trade, retail, etc. have come one after another.
Nanyang Petrochemical Group and the Rayong City Government established a joint venture here called Rayong Petrochemical Company, which mainly produces oil for automobiles and ships.
Huangpu Shipping Company also established a joint venture with the Rayong City Government to establish the Rayong Ship Repair Factory here, which is mainly engaged in the repair of cargo ships. As for whether it will be upgraded to a shipyard in the future, it depends on subsequent development.
It has also become the headquarters of many multinational companies in Thailand, including Hutchison Real Estate, Xinjian Real Estate, Hongyu Clothing, Lane Crawford, Watsons, E-commerce Logistics, etc.
This is also Li Jianhui's first time coming to this city. Looking at the development of Rayong City, Li Jianhui feels like he has come to several major special economic zones in the north.
But currently, Rayong City is more open. Except for a few industries, there are no restrictions on foreign ownership. It has become Thailand's processing and production base and foreign trade center.
On the afternoon of the day they arrived in Rayong City, Li Jianhui and his party, accompanied by the mayor of Rayong, visited the food industry concentration area, textile industry concentration area, and logistics industry concentration area.
At the same time, we also visited Rayong New Town, which is under development and construction, where there are properties being developed by real estate companies such as Hutchison Real Estate, Xinjian Real Estate, Xinglong Real Estate, Guanghua Real Estate, and Kowloon Real Estate.
There is also land reserved for the Wheelock Plaza project. According to the plan, construction will officially start at the end of this year, with a total construction period of three years. It is expected to be officially put into use on New Year's Day in 1988.
Construction will begin in Cebu, Taichung, and Bandung and Penang in July next year. By then, there will be 21 Wheelock Plazas in operation and under construction.
Fortunately, Wheelock Plaza, which we invested in in recent years, has been put into operation one after another, and Wheelock Real Estate has received multiple stock market financings, so it has the strength to build multiple projects at the same time.
After the dinner, Rayong City officials held talks with the delegation, focusing on attracting investment, including airports and ports.
Rayong City was just a little-known small city before. Both the airport and the port were quite small. In the past two years, Rayong City has developed rapidly, and this aspect has been unable to meet the needs of Rayong City.
For example, this time, because Rayong City Airport is small, Li Jianhui's special plane could only park at Bangkok International Airport, and then took a small passenger plane to Rayong City.
The port is even more crowded because Rayong City has become an ASEAN Economic Free Trade Zone and the import and export of foreign goods has increased significantly. Due to the port's own loading and unloading capacity, many cargo ships have to queue for a long time.
Regarding the airport and port issues raised by senior officials of the Rayong Municipal Government, Zhang Yijun of Xiangjiang Airlines and Wu Liangbao, President of Huangpu Shipping Group, responded one after another and were very willing to jointly form a joint venture with the Rayong Municipal Government in this regard.
Hutchison Real Estate, together with Chinese Land, Guanghua Construction, Kowloon Construction, Hin Leong Real Estate, and Thaksin Real Estate, will jointly build a business complex in Rayong City. The entire project investment is expected to be HK$50 billion.
This project is also the largest investment project that Li Jianhui and others have come to Rayong City this time. In terms of land price, the top management of the Rayong City Government also made considerable concessions, allowing Li Jianhui and others to obtain 100 hectares of development land at a price well below the market price.
Li Jianhui and others are obviously not philanthropists. The actual land used for the HK$50 billion project is only 50 hectares. As for the extra land, it is obviously reserve land that will be developed when the time is ripe in the future.
It can be said that these people have already played tricks in real estate management. Many innovations were thought up by these people. Their fundamental purpose is to make more profits for themselves and promote their own development.
Of course, this is also a wishful thinking. The top management of Rayong City does not feel it is a pity to sell 100 hectares at a low price to a few major real estate companies. An investment of 50 billion Hong Kong dollars will not boost the economy of Rayong City just like this 100 hectares of land.
The value is comparable.
For example, the 30 hectares of development land given to Wheelock Land Group to build Wheelock Plaza were basically given away by Rayong City for free in order to provide jobs and stimulate consumption after Wheelock Plaza was put into operation.
With the jewel of a business complex at the forefront, some subsequent cooperation discussions seemed a bit insignificant.
Rayong City executives left the hotel with smiles on their faces, but public opinion from the outside world had just begun to ferment.
The Thai government attaches great importance to the business delegation headed by Li Jianhui. Regardless of the afternoon visit or the evening talks, there are TV stations that broadcast them live.
The talks have not yet ended. The news that a number of real estate groups in Hong Kong, together with the well-known Thai company Thaksin Real Estate and the largest real estate group in Malaysia, Xing Leong Real Estate, have invested 50 billion to build a business complex in Rayong City has already reached countless TV stations in Thailand.
in the ears of the audience.
50 billion project, which has created the history of single project investment by private enterprises in Thailand. As a result, the reputation of Rayong City has once again risen to a higher level. I don’t know how many Thai nationals have given up their previous plans and instead set their destination in Rayong City.
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Some enterprising businessmen or entrepreneurs have also set their sights on Rayong City and regard Rayong City as the starting point for their take-off.
Although several major media in Hong Kong did not report this, East Asia Television, a subsidiary of the Far Eastern Society, focused on the news that evening.
The next day, the East Asia Daily, a subsidiary of the East Asia Film and Television Media Group, made it a front-page headline, even likening it to another Tung Hwa Road.
Fortunately, the 2nd is a Saturday and the stock market is closed, otherwise today would be another uncomfortable day for investors.
However, this news did panic some people. The impact of the HK$50 billion investment during this period was far greater than what Li Jianhui and others had predicted.
It is not just talk that Li Jianhui is a leader in the business community in Xiangjiang. As soon as this news came out, many heads of Xiangjiang companies set off to Rayong City, especially those suppliers of Xinjian retail companies.
Tung Wah Hui focuses on investing in Rayong City, so they naturally have to follow suit quickly and strive to make their products sell well in ASEAN through Tung Wah Hui's channels.
Some real estate companies have also seen opportunities. Due to the fifty-hectare limit in Xiangjiang, it has been difficult for these small and medium-sized real estate companies to have opportunities to develop.
Now the Tung Wah Association is focusing on investing in Rayong City, which is bound to develop rapidly and the real estate industry will usher in a golden age, and they also hope to get a share of the pie.
Li Jianhui ignored the storm he caused. On the afternoon of the 2nd, everyone flew directly to Johor Bahru, Malaysia, after transferring to Bangkok.
This is also the core of Tung Wah Association’s layout in ASEAN. Like Rayong, Johor Bahru is also an ASEAN Free Trade Zone.
Moreover, because Tung Hwa Hui invested here earlier, its development has far surpassed that of Rayong City. It has the headquarters of many companies of the Xinjian Group and is well-known in ASEAN and even Asia.
The person in charge of ASEAN affairs of the Xin Jian Department is now based in Johor Bahru. While managing the affairs of Nanlong Holdings Group, he is also responsible for the affairs of the Xin Jian Department in ASEAN.
The most important thing is that Li Jianhui's wife Guan Jiahui and their two children Li Zhihong and Li Zhiming are from Johor Bahru. This also shows the special nature of the Xin Jian relationship in Johor Bahru.