APEC Investment Lectures Draw Big Crowds

The Investment Lecture Session, part of the on-going Second APEC Investment Mart held in Yantai, coastal city of east China's Shandong Province had attracted large crowds of audience

Some listeners had to stand against walls at almost every lecture made by delegates of the 21 APEC members which also tried their best to brief potential investors on favorable investment environment, policies and opportunities.

With the help of slides, these eloquent speakers painted a bright prospects for investors to pour their money into their places.

Delegates from the Southeast Asia country of Philippines impressed the audience with their well-trained manpower, featured with 94 percent of literacy, English-speaking, requiring only six to eight weeks of technical training.

The Philippines boasts 2,9 million skillful workers, 350,000 university graduates, 70,000 IT and computer specialists, and 100, 000 commercial and management professionals. The country is the world's No.1 for developing knowledge-based economy, according to an international survey.

For the speakers of Australia, host country of the Olympic Games last year, their beautiful landscape is a great boost to their efforts to lure investors for their abundant resources and sound investment environment.

That's why at the end of their lecture, photos of coastal scenes of Australia were shown to arouse a "WHOA!!!" among some local listeners, many of them are new riches from rural areas in this coastal city of Yantai.

Officials from China's Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation took it a good place to reiterate the wonderful opportunities to invest in China, a country that is carrying out its ambitious 10th Five-Year Plan (2001-2005) and the government's firmness in further opening-up to the rest of the world.

Zhang Xunhai, an official from the ministry promised that he and his colleagues will be glad to reply phone calls from anyone who is interested in investing in China.

On the issue of China's forthcoming entry into the WTO, the official said it is both a good opportunity for China and overseas countries and regions.

The delegation of Peru has brought a big package of lucrative investment projects including construction of airports, ports, roads and the Metro in Lima, the Peruvian capital.

The Peruvian delegation made a stir, when one of its delegates, Juan Alberto Forsyth Rivarola, president of the Committee of Promotion and International Economical Relations of Peru, announced that the newly-elected Peruvian President, Dr. Alejandro Toledo, has sent a message through him to the current Second APEC Investment Mart to invite investors from APEC member economies.

"I have come directly from my country, Peru, to Yantai to this important investment even to give the most warmest welcome to all members of APEC to invite you to invest in Peru, a country of a globalized economy where investment is most welcome," said the official, spelling out the message on behalf of the Peruvian leader.

In the past, Peru has focused on investment from Europe and North America, but now it also wants to attract investors from the Asia-Pacific Region including China, said the official.

The delegation of Russian Federation, led by Irina E. Osokina, deputy minister of the Ministry of Industry, Science and Technology, looked the best prepared.

The elegantly-dressing woman official informed the audience of the Russian government's plan to advocate innovation in the development of science and technology.

She invited APEC investors to cooperate with Russia in its establishment of an electronic center for innovation cooperation.

Afterwards, Sergei A. Boyov, an official from the Investment Policies Department of the Russian Ministry of Economic Development, explained investment policies and environment in Russia.

The third and last speaker of the Russian delegation, Nikolas A. Borisenko, first vice president of the Russian petroleum corporation brought along with him a big "gift" to potential investors -- the oil and gas transportation project of Sakhalin, which is expected to cost 11 billion U.S. dollars.

So far, 4.6 billion U.S. dollars has been invested in the project and Russia hopes overseas investors could cover the rest.

After a serious study by Russian experts, he noted, China will have to import 66 million tons of oil by 2005 and 104 million tons by 2010.

While the Russian entrepreneur spoke, the slide repeatedly showed the short form of the oil company, "ROSNEFT", bringing to the audience the strong feeling of the powerful industrial giants in Russia.






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