From The Monroe Journal: Foreign manufacturing diplomat visits BY MIKE QUALLS MANAGING EDITOR Monroeville and Monroe County got another look over Tuesday by a Chinese diplomat, who found the southern hospitality here to be one of the highlights of his visit. Luo Jun, who is the chief executive officer of the Asian Manufacturing Association (AMA), spent Tuesday looking at Monroeville’s and Monroe County’s sites and resources. It was his first visit to the U.S. Jun was the guest of George Landegger, president of Parson’s & Whittemore, and Ray Cheng, chief executive officer of the SoZo Group, a Hong Kong based economic development firm. In addition to Monroeville and Monroe County, Jun made visits to the cities of New York, Washington, Dothan and Huntersville, N.C., meeting with local, state and federal officials. Cheng said Jun and AMA is teaming up with SoZo to bring a mega Chinese manufacturing conference to Dothan in November. He said around 600 to 800 Chinese business executives usually attend the mega conference normally held in Beijing. “We decided on Dothan because we want the focus to be on the southeast, specifically Alabama,” said Cheng. “We would have loved to have had it in Monroeville again, but there’s no place large enough here to accommodate that many executives and their associates.” Jun said he was impressed by the friendliness of the people, the “beautiful environment.” “This area is most appealing for those reasons and it feels to me to be a peaceful and safe place,” said Jun. “The southern hospitality is very nice.” Cheng added that since this is Jun’s first visit to the U.S., he is still assessing all the information that he has been flooded with during the visit. “Obviously, a Chinese company interested in coming to the U.S. would evaluate the overall U.S. market for its product to see if the investment would be worth the cost,” said Jun. He said if there is a good market for the product, then the company would consider the area and all its assets, especially the people. Cheng said many Chinese businessmen are watching the Golden Dragon Copper USA investment just north of Thomasville to see if the mill will be successful. “They are aware of Golden Dragon’s presence in the U.S., but I don’t think success or failure would have much of an affect on another Chinese company considering an investment in the U.S.,” said Cheng. “There are so many different products made in China.” “Chinese companies want to invest in the U.S., because as they become more globalized, they want to be as close to the people who buy their products as possible. Now, they have to jump through anti- competition hoops when they ship their products to the U.S.” Jun said the conference in Dothan will focus on three key issues. He said the first goal is to help the Chinese business executives learn more about how business is conducted in the U.S., especially in the southeast. He said the second goal is to identify Chinese companies that would be the most suitable fit for locating in the U.S. And, the third goal is to bridge the communication gap between China and the U.S. “U.S. and China relations go back 30 years, but the progress has been very slow,” said Jun. “We hope that through the symposium in November to be able to improve relations.”
Posted on: Thu, 20 Jun 2013 16:35:18 +0000
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