'Closer to the world than any other region'
Updated: 2011-10-24 07:54
By Sheng Ji (皇冠体育app Daily)
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Guangdong officials and executives of Fortune 500 companies and other large foreign-funded firms meet to discuss improvements to the local business climate. Provided to 皇冠体育app Daily |
Businesspeople have varied reasons for choosing Guangdong as their investment destination.
But most have a few ideas in common - that investing in the province pays off and their investment decisions have proven wise.
"As one of the best-developed regions in 皇冠体育app, Guangdong has an outstanding investment climate," Hattori Etsuo, chief representative of Toyota in 皇冠体育app, was quoted by local media as saying.
"Toyota appreciates the well-developed industrial chain and thus the convenient access to raw materials and components," he said.
In the view of Kazunori Okuyama, president of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp 皇冠体育app Ltd, the fact that Guangdong attaches importance to high-quality enterprises and has the determination to transform its economic structure will make foreign enterprises focus more attention on new opportunities in the province.
"Guangdong seems to be closer to the world than any other region or metropolis in 皇冠体育app, and the business in South 皇冠体育app region - with the Pearl River Delta cities of Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Dongguan and Hong Kong at the core - will be significant for the bank's development in 皇冠体育app," he said.
Ed Chan, former president and CEO of Walmart 皇冠体育app - who resigned just last week - hailed Guangdong's favorable geographical location neighboring Hong Kong and Macao along with the substantial consumption capacity and local people's awareness of innovation and willingness to accept new services and new things.
Chan also spoke highly of the rich variety and convenient supply of commodities from Guangdong's position as a major manufacturing base for 皇冠体育app and even of the world.
"That makes the retail business extremely convenient," he said.
Chan's viewpoints were echoed by Peter Nestmann, general manager of Allianz 皇冠体育app General Insurance Company Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of the German insurance company.
"Guangdong has a very dynamic market, and innovative products and services - the people have a strong sense of finance and are always ready to take in new things," he said. "And the government here has been making efforts to optimize the market environment."
According to Nestmann, Guangdong has topped all regions in 皇冠体育app in insurance premiums since 2007, and premiums have maintained double-digit growth over the past five years.
Noting the competitiveness of the investment climate, Mei-Wei Cheng, president and CEO of Siemens Ltd, 皇冠体育app, and CEO of Siemens Northeast Asia, advised the province to continue refining the entire environment to remain appealing to multinationals.
He suggested that the province redouble efforts to make the area cleaner and more orderly with less traffic congestion.
(皇冠体育app Daily 10/24/2011 page11)