Sail across the sea

Chapter 340 Who Should Pay for the Travel Expenses

Hearing that a foreign guest wanted to see the person in charge of Canghai Vitamin Factory, the Foreign Affairs Office of Maolin Province did not dare to delay and directly called Canghai Fertilizer Factory, specifically asking to speak to Gao Fan.

Gao Fan was a person who had registered with the Provincial Foreign Affairs Office. From the earliest cooperation with Kitajima Masanobu, to the later cooperation with the Hatch Group, and the introduction of the American Odin Factory, the Provincial Foreign Affairs Office had sent people to participate.

Maolin Province is an economically underdeveloped province with few foreign-related projects. How could the Foreign Affairs Office not pay special attention to a capable person like Gao Fan who can easily attract tens of millions of dollars in foreign investment?
Wang Zhi, director of the Foreign Affairs Office who is now talking to Gao Fan on the phone, has dealt with Gao Fan many times and can be considered an old acquaintance.

"Xiao Gao, is there anything wrong with the vitamins you guys are selling? I heard that the foreign guests are here to cause trouble for you and are even saying they're going to sue you in the International Court of Justice."

After answering the call, Wang Zhi asked Gao Fan with a concerned look.

Gao Fan smiled and said, "Director Wang, don't worry. There is nothing wrong with our work. Even if the Foreign Affairs Office doesn't trust me, Xiao Gao, doesn't it trust the Hatch Group? The agent of our vitamin C in the United States is the Hatch Group. Whether there is a legal dispute or not, the Americans will not understand it."

"That's true." Wang Zhi felt at ease.

Yes, the Canghua Vitamin Factory is a joint venture, and the joint venture partner is the famous American Hatch Group. How could they not understand the legal provisions?
Even if there is any legal dispute, it is a lawsuit between Germans and Americans. What does it have to do with Maolin Province?

Wang Zhi felt relieved after getting rid of this worry. He smiled and said, "We are always confident in your work. Even the provincial leaders have praised you for your promising career. Why should we be worried? By the way, a chief representative from Lloyd's in Asia has arrived in Beijing. They asked you to send someone to Beijing to negotiate with them. The Beijing Foreign Affairs Office asked us to ask if you will go?"

"Of course we will go. We can't make things difficult for the Foreign Affairs Office, right?" Gao Fan agreed readily.

"That's good. I was worried that you were too busy at work and couldn't spare the time." Wang Zhi said.

Gao Fan asked, "Director Wang, did the other party say who they want us to send?"

Wang Zhi said: "The other party seems to be saying that they hope you can send someone who can take responsibility."

"Is it okay for Mr. Gu to go?" Gao Fan asked.

Wang Zhi knew that the Mr. Gu that Gao Fan was talking about was Gu Kunquan, the executive vice president of Canghua Science and Technology. To be honest, Wang Zhi and Gu Kunquan were much more familiar with each other than with Gao Fan.

He asked, "Can Lao Gu make the final decision on your company's affairs?"

Gao Fan said: "President Gu is the executive vice president. He will definitely make the final decision on most matters."

Wang Zhi heard Gao Fan's subtext and said, "But, this incident doesn't seem to be an ordinary one, right?"

"Yes." Gao Fan said, "Low's wants us to give up the export of vitamin C, which is equivalent to asking us to give up 4000 million US dollars in export earnings a year. I'm afraid President Gu can't make the final decision on such a big thing."

"Then..." Wang Zhi got stuck halfway through his words.

He wanted to follow Gao Fan's lead and ask Gao Fan if he could make the final decision, but when the words came to his mouth, he suddenly had a flash of inspiration and realized that this matter was not something that Canghua Science and Technology Trade Company could decide. When it came to the matter of exporting 4000 million US dollars, even the Provincial Economic Commission did not dare to make the final decision, but...

"I understand." Wang Zhi said, then asked with a smile, "If that's the case, why did they ask your people to go to Beijing?" "How would I know. If they are willing to pay for the travel expenses, we will just send someone there. It doesn't matter." Gao Fan said.

"Travel expenses?" Wang Zhi was speechless. "Who told you that they would pay for the travel expenses?"

"That's what I said." Gao Fan said, "Director Wang, you can reply to the other party like this, saying that we can send people at any time, provided that they pay for the travel expenses and the wages of the people on business trip, which can be calculated at 100 yuan a day. If you agree to these two points, we can send as many people as you want."

"Is this what you meant by not making things difficult for our Foreign Affairs Office?" Wang Zhi retorted unhappily.

The reason Gao Fan gave was really powerful.

The Foreign Affairs Office conveyed the foreign guests' request and asked Canghua Company to send someone to Beijing. Canghua Company agreed without hesitation, which is considered cooperation.

But if they agree to your request, who should pay for the travel expenses?
If you send someone on a business trip, you can't ask them to pay for their own travel expenses, right?

Can the Provincial Foreign Affairs Office pay for this travel expense? The answer is: Why?
When foreign guests come to Maolin, we arrange for people to accompany them and treat them with good food and drinks, which is reasonable. But now the foreign guests have not even come to Maolin, but they are asking the Provincial Foreign Affairs Office to pay for it with just one phone call. Do they really think our funds are blown by the wind?

So, will the Beijing Foreign Affairs Office pay for this? Wang Zhi could figure it out with his heels. They definitely wouldn't pay, because this was Mao Lin's business, and it had nothing to do with Beijing.

The most important thing is that Wang Zhi has realized that it is completely meaningless to urge Gao Fan to send someone to Beijing, because the province will never agree to give up the export of vitamin C.

It is true that foreign guests are important. But this is based on the premise that they can bring benefits to the local area. If they do not bring benefits and instead want to undermine the province's export earnings, then who cares what kind of foreign guest you are?

To put it bluntly, there are no such people who worship foreign things. What everyone worships and fawns on are real interests.

The reply from Maolin Province was conveyed to Ogier through the Foreign Affairs Office in Beijing. When Ogier heard the request for the first time, he almost nodded in agreement. Fortunately, his assistant Lassiter stopped him in time.

"We cannot agree to this request," Lassiter said.

"Why?" Ogel asked. He had already asked before, and the sleeper ticket from Maolin to Beijing was only more than 100 yuan, much cheaper than the airfare from Japan to China.

Lassiter said, "Isn't this obvious? If we agree to pay for their transportation and even their commissions, it means we need their help, which will be very disadvantageous to our subsequent negotiations."

Ogier was stunned, he actually ignored this matter.

As the chief representative for Asia, he was actually a medical representative. He was so skilled in paying for transportation expenses for customers that he subconsciously treated the people from Canghua Science and Technology as customers just now, and was thinking about how big a red envelope he should give to the other party.

After Lassiter reminded him, he realized that something was wrong. He came here to sue the other party, so how could he pay for the other party's travel expenses?

(End of this chapter)