Giant Projects Vie for FundsThe new international airport of Guangzhou, the Guangdong Photon Valley and Tianhe Scientific and Technological Park are competing with other projects to seek foreign investment and co-operation at an investment and trade fair, which opened in Guangzhou Sunday.The municipal government is hoping to attract foreign investment for a total of 26 new and high-tech and industrial projects during the two-day fair in the provincial capital. More than 300 business representatives from Australia, the United States and Canada as well as Hong Kong and Taiwan are expected to attend the fair, according to Luo Zhaoci, deputy director of Guangzhou Municipal Bureau of Foreign Trade and Economic Co-operation. Luo said the projects were mainly involved in electronics, information, steel, cars, environmental protection, logistics, tourism, infrastructure facilities and commerce. Luo said the projects which required high technology and big investment offered plenty of opportunities for offshore investors. The new international airport and its supplementary facilities alone needs more than 20 billion yuan (US$2.41 billion). Located in the northern part of the city, the new airport -- which includes two runways -- is designed to deal with 27 million passengers a year. The airport, for which building will officially start later this year, is expected to be finished in two years. Its supplementary projects include an airport expressway, a luxury hotel, a food processing factory for airlines and a cargo transport station. The Guangdong Photon Valley is expected to become a new and high-tech industrial production belt in the prosperous Pearl River Delta, which borders Hong Kong and Macao. After five to 10 years of development, the Guangdong Photon Project is expected to reach an annual industrial production of more than 300 billion yuan (US$36.14 billion), playing a big part in the province's modernization drive. Covering an area of 1.37 square kilometres, the Tianhe Scientific and Technological Park will offer attractive incentives to foreign investors. The park will mainly develop software, computers, network and other information industry products. Other key projects seeking foreign investment include expanding the Zhujiang Steel Plant, which needs more than 1 billion yuan (US$120 million), the Tianhe Digital Project, which cost about 3 billion yuan (US$361 million), and a US$500-million computer industrial production base in the Guangzhou Free Trade Zone. |
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