Chapter 946

The materials Su Xinghui handed to Hackett included the feasibility study report, the plan, the fund-raising scheme, the repayment plan, etc., for the Shangjun County Changjiangdaqiao project, all written in great detail.

After about half an hour, Hackett finished reading all the materials. He looked up and said: "Mr. Su, I personally think your project is still very good and has great prospects."

This project was certainly good. On the Changjiang, there were only about ten Changjiangdaqiao already built. Upstream from Shangjun County, in Yiyang City, there was a Changjiangdaqiao, two or three hundred kilometers away from Shangjun County, while downstream from Shangjun County, in Jiangcheng, there was a Changjiangdaqiao, more than seventy kilometers away from Shangjun County.

Between these two Changjiangdaqiao, on a stretch of the river more than three hundred kilometers long, there was not yet a single Changjiangdaqiao. This was a blank space, and the geographical location of Shangjun County was excellent; on the opposite bank was Qingyang City.

Qingyang City was the largest plain city in Hudong Province. The entire city was on a huge alluvial plain with fertile land, rich produce, and a developed economy. If a Changjiangdaqiao could connect Qingyang and the south bank, it would be a huge boost to the economic development of the two pieces of land on both sides of the Changjiang.

Qingyang City was considered a relatively developed city in Hudong Province, always ranking in the top three in the province's GDP, while Shangjun County's economic development momentum had been rapid in recent years. In the past three years, its GDP growth rate had ranked first in Hudong Province. After Hou Guangbi had someone call him, Hackett had done his homework and knew some basic information about these two places. He knew that the governments of these two places had the ability to repay.

Su Xinghui said: "Thank you for your affirmation, Mr. Hackett."

Hackett said: "You're welcome, I am just speaking the truth. I also appreciate your fund-raising plan and repayment plan; they are very clear and operational. You did these, right?"

Su Xinghui nodded and said: "I did them."

Hackett said: "Very high level, but there is one point I don't quite understand. The appropriation from your province reached fifty percent, and the funds you need to raise yourself are only thirty million US dollars. With the strength of the Hou Clan Group, it wouldn't be a big deal for them to take on all these funds. Why do you still need to borrow from our World Bank?"

In the fund-raising plan made by Su Xinghui, the Shangjun County government and the Qingyang City government on the opposite bank would jointly borrow fifteen million US dollars from the World Bank, and the Hou Clan Group would invest fifteen million US dollars. Together with the provincial appropriation of about thirty million US dollars, they would jointly form a management company to build this project.

Su Xinghui said: "This was a suggestion made to us by the old gentleman Hou Guangbi. He said that your World Bank has the world's best transportation engineering construction experts and supervision experts. As long as we borrow from you, your experts can intervene in this project, which will be good for the project's cost and quality."

Hackett laughed: "Thank you for the high evaluation of our World Bank by the old gentleman Hou. Since this is the reason, I can accept it. Our World Bank's experts in transportation engineering are indeed the best in the world."

Su Xinghui was overjoyed and said: "So, Mr. Hackett, you agree to our project?"

Hackett shook his head and said: "My agreement alone is useless. I can only say that I am inclined to this project in principle, but for the specific evaluation of the project, we still need to send a delegation to evaluate it."

Su Xinghui nodded and said: "I understand. Then please send a delegation to our Shangjun County to conduct a project evaluation as soon as possible. I hope you can go personally, so I can take you to taste the tea art of that high monk."

Hackett said: "But I see from your materials that this project doesn't seem to have been approved in your country yet, right? According to the regulations, we can only start the evaluation procedure after the project is successfully approved."

Su Xinghui said confidently: "We are running the approval process at the State Planning Commission. This project will definitely be successfully approved in the near future."

A cunning light flashed in Hackett's eyes as he said: "If your project is not successfully approved, then any promises I made today will not count."

Su Xinghui smiled and said: "That is of course. If the project is not even approved, what is the use of our loan?"

Hackett looked at the wall clock and said: "Mr. Su, it is already past five o'clock, so I won't keep you."

Su Xinghui said: "Mr. Hackett, it is already past five o'clock, and it is time for dinner. Why don't I invite you to a simple meal?"

Hackett said: "Thank you for Mr. Su's kindness, but I won't eat. Of course, don't worry, I won't eat this meal of yours, and it won't affect my evaluation of your project."

Hackett was clearly a China hand. He knew that in China, if you ask someone to do something, you have to invite them to dinner. If you can't even invite them to dinner, it often means that the other party is unwilling to help. Therefore, he told Su Xinghui in advance, which could be considered as dispelling his concerns.

Su Xinghui said: "Mr. Hackett, please also rest assured. I am not inviting you to dinner to make you take care of me. It is like this: I know there is a very good private kitchen restaurant in Jingcheng, whose head chef is a special-grade chef who once worked at the State Guest House. The taste of the food is unique. Don't you like Chinese food? Then you absolutely cannot miss this place."

Hackett pondered. He certainly knew about the State Guest House. Since it was a chef who had worked there, the level was naturally beyond doubt. He couldn't help but hesitate. ===== CHAPTER 948 =====