Chapter 246 Meeting with Tanaka

There is a 166-meter-high building next to the harbor. This is No. 1-1, Shibaura 1-chome, Minato-ku, the headquarters of the Nishiba Group.

Li Weidong looked at the building and muttered to himself: This is also a landmark building in the port area. I remember later that it was to be demolished and a new landmark with a height of more than 200 meters was rebuilt!

Then Li Weidong looked at his watch, it was only 1:20, 40 minutes earlier than the scheduled 2 o'clock.

Li Weidong walked into the building of Xizhi Group, explained his purpose, and was taken to the reception room to rest.

The Japanese are very rigid when it comes to work. If they say that they meet at two o'clock, they will meet at two o'clock, and they will never be one minute earlier.

Li Weidong didn't care, after all, the President Tanaka he wanted to meet was also a well-known entrepreneur.

The Xizhi Group was founded by the Tanaka family, so it has always been in the hands of the Tanaka family. For more than 100 years, although Xizhi has produced many CEOs with foreign surnames, the power of the Tanaka family has always been involved in the management of the company. Many people in important positions in Xizhi are still surnamed Tanaka.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, Li Weidong was finally invited to President Tanaka's office.

Hello, President Tanaka, I'm Li Weidong. Li Weidong offered a box of exquisite tea leaves with both hands, and then said, A little thought is not a respect.

After all, the two sides met for the first time. Of course, Li Weidong would not come empty-handed. Although as President Tanaka, he would definitely not miss this box of tea, but there is a saying that it is not strange to have many gifts, and gifts are better than no gifts. powerful.

What's more, according to Japanese habits, when you visit someone else's house for the first time, you need to prepare some souvenirs.

Mr. Li is very fluent in Japanese. President Tanaka took the tea leaves and asked Li Weidong to sit down.

After the two exchanged a few words, Li Weidong took the lead and asked: Mr. Tanaka, my factory has produced egg steamers for Xizhi Electric for a while. I wonder if you are satisfied with our work?

The sales of egg steamers in the Japanese market are very good. I think we can continue to cooperate. President Tanaka said indifferently, as if he was talking politely.

Li Weidong immediately said: Mr. Tanaka,

My visit this time is also in the hope of deepening the cooperation with Xizhi Electric.

How does Mr. Li plan to deepen our cooperation? President Tanaka asked.

In addition to the egg steamer, my factory has the ability to manufacture other products, so I hope Xizhi Electric can give me a chance. Li Weidong continued: I brought some samples, all produced by my factory. Yes, you can take a look.

Li Weidong said, and took out small appliances such as hair dryers and electric irons assembled by the electric furnace factory from his suitcase.

President Tanaka took the hair dryer, looked at it casually, and said, Mr. Li, the hair dryer you produce is still in good workmanship.

Li Weidong immediately said: Mr. Tanaka, if possible, I hope to be able to manufacture hair dryers and irons for Xizhi Electric.

President Tanaka looked at Li Weidong with a smile and asked: Mr. Li, we have a special factory and a special production line for hair dryers at Xizhi Electric. Our own production capacity can fully meet the needs of the market. Work for you?

Because the cost will be lower if it is entrusted to me. Li Weidong replied immediately.

Mr. Li, I admit that businessmen are chasing profits, and low cost is a good reason, but this is not enough to convince me to give up the existing home appliance production line. President Tanaka shook his head.

Li Weidong said calmly: There is a scholar in your country named Chi Songyao, who put forward a theory of flying geese in the 1930s, which roughly describes the succession of a certain industry in different countries with industrial transfer. boom and bust, and the process of boom and bust of different industries in one country.

In my opinion, the East Asian countries are the economic development form of the flying geese theory. The industrial transfer started from Japan, then the Asian Tigers, and then China. Now that Japan's industrial structure has begun to develop to a higher level, it is time to transfer some low-level industries to relatively backward countries. Only in this way can it complete its own industrial upgrading.

Producing a hair dryer or an electric iron is simple and not very profitable. For the current Xizhi Electric, these simple, low-profit industries should be abandoned, and efforts should be made to move forward to high-end, high-profit, and high-value-added industries. Such as digital technology, mobile communication technology and network technology.

Speaking of digital technology, mobile communication technology and network technology, President Tanaka's eyes flashed with surprise, which is the future development direction of Nishihiba.

Xizhi was originally a semiconductor company, and it also achieved the world's number one. However, in the 1980s, Japan's semiconductor industry was suppressed by the United States, another 301 investigation, another tariff increase, and another signing of the Semiconductor Agreement. A set of combined punches directly overwhelmed Japan's semiconductor industry, and Xizhi Electric's semiconductor business also stagnated.

Since semiconductors are restricted, Xizhi can only find another way. In the end, they chose the fields of digital technology, mobile communication technology and network technology. Xizhi has also changed from a home appliance company to an IT company including communications, electronics and other businesses.

In 1990, Xizhi had just determined the development direction of digital technology, mobile communication technology and network technology. At this time, this development direction was revealed by Li Weidong. Naturally, President Tanaka was extremely surprised. He even doubted that there would be Commercial espionage, revealing company secrets.

Li Weidong went on to say: President Tanaka, Xizhi Electric needs to develop, and it must carry out industrial upgrading, not limited to the production of hair dryers or electric irons. If Xizhi Electric continues to engage in these simple tasks, it will inevitably drag down the overall development of the company.

Therefore, I hope that President Tanaka can carefully consider my suggestion and entrust me with the production of low-end industries such as hair dryers and electric irons, while Xizhi Electric will focus on the development of high-end industries. And by our OEM for these small appliances, the production cost will be lower, and Xizhi Electric can also obtain higher profits.

Mr. Li, it seems that you have some understanding of our Xizhi Electric's future development plan! President Tanaka looked at Li Weidong blankly.

Since I dared to visit, I naturally did some homework in advance. Li Weidong replied.

President Tanaka nodded, and after pondering for a while, he said, Mr. Li, you are a far-sighted entrepreneur. Since that's the case, I won't hide it from you. industry, so we plan to transfer some home appliance manufacturing business to other countries in the next few years.”

Li Weidong was overjoyed, and it seemed that the OEM business had some drama.

President Tanaka changed his voice and continued, But we don't plan to transfer our home appliance manufacturing business to China. We already have other options!

President Tanaka, are you referring to Thailand or Malaysia? Li Weidong asked immediately.

How did Mr. Li guess it? President Tanaka asked.

The Four Asian Tigers have already developed, and their labor costs are relatively high. Xizhi Electric will definitely not transfer its home appliance manufacturing business to the Asian Tigers, and China is not in Xizhi Electric's plan, so there are only Southeast Asian countries. .

Li Weidong sighed and continued: Among Southeast Asian countries, Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos are not suitable for investment. Brunei is too small, the Philippines is too chaotic, and Indonesia's labor force is too scattered. Malaysia and Thailand. And your country has always maintained a good relationship with these two countries, so Xizhi Electric will definitely choose Thailand and Malaysia as investment destinations.”

President Tanaka couldn't help but clapped his hands: Mr. Li, your analysis is very thorough! We chose Malaysia. But you are only half right, Xizhi Electric chose Malaysia, and there is another reason, that is next to Malaysia, It's Singapore!

Li Weidong frowned slightly: Although Singapore is relatively wealthy, they only have a population of 3 million, right? This is not a big market! We also have a market on Hong Kong Island. Hong Kong Island has 5.7 million people, and the per capita income is also Higher than Singapore, Hong Kong Island is a bigger market than Singapore!

In 1990, there were only 3 million people in Singapore, with a per capita GDP of less than 12,000 US dollars, while Hong Kong Island had 5.7 million people with a per capita GDP of 13,500 US dollars. In terms of economic aggregate, Hong Kong Island was larger than the two Singapores. Therefore, the Hong Kong Island market at that time was much larger than that of Singapore.

President Tanaka shook his head: What we at Xizhi Electric value is not the Singapore market!

It's not the Singapore market? Could it be that the market in Southeast Asia is valued? But Southeast Asia is not rich! And the population of Southeast Asia is not as good as China's. Li Weidong thought to himself.

President Tanaka pressed the button of a certain phone and said, Bring in the samples of the hair dryer developed by the design department!

After a while, the helper walked into the house with a white hair dryer in his hand.

Mr. Li, this is the hair dryer that we have just developed by Xizhi Electric. Look at our hair dryer, what's the difference between the hair dryer you made? President Tanaka said.

Li Weidong looked at the white hair dryer and the hair dryer he produced, and instantly realized the difference between the two.

The shell of Xizhi Electric's hair dryer is made of plastic. The hair dryer shell produced by itself is made of metal.

In an instant, Li Weidong understood.

So Li Weidong said: President Tanaka, if I guess correctly, the reason why Xizhi Electric chose Malaysia is because Malaysia is close to Singapore, and Singapore can provide the plastic raw materials needed for home appliance production!

President Tanaka smiled and nodded: Mr. Li, you are a very keen entrepreneur!