Sutanto Djuhar -President of Lin's Group, Indonesia
Nanjing, China - 17 September 2001
Your honorable leaders, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
First of all, I would like to express my sincere thanks to the organizing committee of the Forum for giving me the opportunity to make the speech.
Living overseas since childhood, I came back to my hometown (Fuqing City, Fujian Province) in 1953 for the first time and in 1987 for the second time with a study team I organized. I have a lot of thoughts when I come back this time. In the past three decades, changes have taken place in my hometown, but they are not great enough. However, we overseas fellow townsmen have achieved a lot in our strife. I feel that it is the responsibility of us overseas Chinese businessmen to help our hometowns to get rich as soon as possible. I had two options then. One was to follow my own development in China with more interest and the other was to spend more of my energy and financial resources to assist the development of Fuqing City. I thought I should have the second option. The reason was that the result of my personal development would, at the most, be my own profit and wealth but the development of Fuqing City would be development of the majority of its people, which would be of a different but a but a greater significance. Thus, in the past decade, I have kept exploring methods and ways to help my hometown to improve and construct the development environment together with many Fuqing overseas businessmen and have implemented two "five-year plans". I may say that our explorations and efforts have been a success. In 1986, the gross industrial and agricultural value of output of Fuqing City was RMB 476 million but in 2000, a breakthrough of RMB 40 billion. The overall economic strength of Fuqing City has now become number 3 in the 69 counties and cities in Fujian Province from number 62 in the old times. General secretary Jian Zemin praised Fuqing City as "a special economic zone without the title of a special economic zone". At the same time, many overseas Chinese businessmen have found development opportunities in the improvement of the investment environment of Fuqing City. For example, AOC Electronics (Fujian) Limited founded by Fuqing overseas businessmen and Taiwan businessmen has become the biggest display manufacturer in China and number 3 in the world, of which I am the Chairman.
Nevertheless, there has been a big pity in my mind for years. In 1987 and 1988, we hoped that some Fuqing overseas businessmen with economic strength would return to Fuqing for development and set up a "Textile City". Unfortunately, many overseas Chinese businessmen gave the project up for reason of the difficulties in investing in China since they could not adapt themselves to the Chinese examination and approval system. As a result, they suffered, in 1997, great losses in the Asian financial storm (which were estimated to be USD 20 billion). Whenever I recall this, I feel very regretful. The reason I mention this today is that this lesson of the Fuqing overseas businessmen tell us that there are two very important points as whether they will develop in China and contribute to China's development. One point is that they should have as much as possible a thorough understanding of the situation in China. Some overseas townsmen would think in a simple way that the difficulties in investment arise from the Chinese side only and thus reach a conclusion that investment in China would cause a lot of trouble. If you see things from another point of view, however, and know more about the situation in China, you may make a farsighted investment decision. Another point is that you should have a closer contact with the people in China and reach a common view for mutual development with the people in the areas you are going to invest and create favourable conditions for overcoming the difficulties and solving the problems with them together. The practice of the Fuqing overseas businessmen has shown that their investment in China is not purely to make profit but also to create favorable development environment together with the invested areas. So long as the overseas Chinese businessmen and the people in the invested areas have good contacts and common views, then both parties will have faster and better development.
The experience learned by the Fuqing overseas businessmen in the 20th century is still of enlightenment significance to the overseas Chinese businessmen for their development and new contributions in China (particularly in the western part of China) in the 21st century. I cite Fuqing again as an example.
The overseas Chinese businessmen in the 21st century may be categorized into old ones and new ones. Fuqing City has now 300,000 old ones and 300,000 new ones. The new ones are emerging forces of the overseas Chinese businessmen who will play their role in China. However, many of them are facing the problem of choice that some of the old ones did in the last century. Since most of them have only small capitals around ten to twenty thousand US dollars, it will be difficult for them to get big development opportunities in the new situation that China is going to enter WTO and the competition on the China market is becoming fiercer and fiercer. Consequently, instead of making investment on projects, many new overseas Chinese businessmen spend their money on building traditional-style houses that have rare chance for maintaining value. This is harmful to both their own development and the urbanization of the Chinese countryside.
To change this situation, I have put forward an idea of "creating favorable conditions to encourage and attract the new overseas Chinese businessmen to pool their small capitals to make investment".
Many Taiwan businessmen want to take their capital, projects, technology, market and experience to build medium-sized or small enterprises and even steel mill in the Jiangyin Peninsula Development Zone of Fuqing City, which faces them across the sea. If the new overseas Chinese businessmen would work together with the Taiwan businessmen with their small capitals, it will be beneficial for the common development of the three sides, i.e. the new overseas Chinese businessmen, the Taiwan businessmen and Fuqing City or even Fuzhou City or Fujian Province.
Nevertheless, this idea or method is only a new thing and cannot be realized by the effort of one person or one overseas group (for instance, our organization Fuqing Shilianhui cannot afford to achieve this). It requires more contact and more mutual understanding between governments at different levels, the new overseas Chinese businessmen and the Taiwan businessmen so as to make their respective investment decisions and bring this undertaking to success. Therefore, I would like to take the opportunity provided by the Forum to express my sincere hope that All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese, Offices of Overseas Chinese Affairs and other government departments and the organizations of overseas Chinese businessmen in the world will make use of the media, the current networks for overseas Chinese businessmen in the world, as well as modern high-tech to create conditions to establish channels and methods that will help the contact and understanding between the three sides so as to enable the overseas Chinese businessmen to achieve greater development in China in the new century and make new contributions to the great cause of resuscitation and reunification of the Chinese nation.
In addition, I would like to suggest that more meetings for the overseas Chinese businessmen should be held in China for this will enable the overseas Chinese businessmen to have greater love for China, deepen their understanding of China and will bring active effect to the meetings after they close.
Thank you.
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