Chapter 419 Princess Margaret's visit to Hong Kong
Hardy receives a telegram from Victor.
Princess Margaret is preparing to visit Hong Kong in ten days. According to the itinerary, Princess Margaret will visit the Hardy Group and industrial park.
Hardy smiled softly.
This was something he had discussed with Margaret long ago.
Hardy told his secretary: "Reply to Victor and tell him that I will go to Hong Kong to personally receive Princess Margaret on her visit to the Hardy Group."
The secretary responded and went to reply the telegram.
Two days later,
Hardy took Han Ye-jin and his son Byrne on a plane to Hong Kong. The Governor's Office was in charge of the affairs in Penang and Malacca. Han Ye-jin happened to return to Hong Kong to take care of her pregnancy, as she liked the environment in Hong Kong more.
At the same time, he ordered a super luxury yacht to go to Hong Kong.
The plane arrived in Hong Kong, and Victor brought people to greet them. The family got in the car and returned to the villa in the Mid-Levels. The villa had a housekeeper who came out to greet them. When Hardy saw Chef Lao Zhang, he smiled and said, "I haven't eaten your cooking for a long time. Let me make a sumptuous meal for you today."
"Okay, sir." Chef Lao Zhang responded quickly.
In the study,
Victor reported to Hardy on the situation in Hong Kong during this period. In fact, Victor would send Hardy the situation in Hong Kong in the form of a report every once in a while, but it was never as detailed as what he said in person.
HSBC and Wells Fargo are both developing very well. Global Shipping has an endless supply of cargo to transport every day, and all the money earned in recent years has been used to purchase new cargo ships. It is now the largest shipping company in Hong Kong.
As for the Global Times, it is already the largest newspaper in Hong Kong, ABC Radio is also the radio station with the highest listening rate in Hong Kong, and ABC Television also officially started broadcasting at the beginning of this year, becoming the first television station in Hong Kong.
There were no television manufacturing companies in Hong Kong, so all the televisions sold here were imported from the United States.
Due to the small number of users, television programs are only broadcast eight hours a day. In addition to news and commentary, other television programs such as MTV, cartoons, TV series, movies, and variety shows are all introduced from the United States.
Recently, HD Pictures also established a branch in Hong Kong and purchased a large piece of land to build its headquarters and studio.
The Hardy Industrial Park is one of the major units of the Hardy Hong Kong Branch. There are now more than one hundred enterprises in the industrial park, all of which are developing very well and have basically entered a mature and stable production period.
The one that is developing faster is Hardy Pharmaceuticals.
Hardy Pharmaceuticals now has more than just Tong Yi Tang. In the past two years, it has acquired several pharmaceutical companies in succession. It now produces more than 60 kinds of medicines, including health products, topical medicines and other categories. It is now the largest pharmaceutical company in Hong Kong.
These drugs are now marketed in the United States, Europe, Japan and other countries, and the medicinal materials mainly come from the mainland, and are imported by a company in Macau.
Although there is a trade ban now, fortunately herbal medicine is not included in the list of export restrictions, which makes it much more convenient. It can be purchased legally. Even so, it is still necessary to go through a Macau company. In this way, if there is a restriction, the current company can be closed directly and another company can be registered immediately to continue the business.
"Boss, the Hong Kong government has notified the company that Princess Margaret is going to visit the Hong Kong headquarters of Hardy Company and the industrial park. In the past few days, I have asked people to start cleaning up, mainly to make it prettier and cleaner."
Victor said.
Hardy nodded and said, "I will personally welcome Princess Margaret at that time, and you will be with me and be responsible for introducing the details."
"Okay, boss." Victor responded quickly.
"Victor, I asked you to pay attention to the Hong Kong property market some time ago. How is your investigation going?" Hardy asked.
Victor quickly introduced: "In the past two years, after Hong Kong became completely stable, its economy has developed rapidly, and during this period, the population has increased greatly. According to government statistics, the population has now exceeded 2 million."
"And this number is not accurate. Many people hide their identities and do not report their household registration, so the actual number is probably around 2.4 million."
"The population has exploded by nearly a million in a few years, so naturally many people have nowhere to live. There are many shanty towns built by themselves in Kowloon, and many people need houses. The biggest problem is that they can't come up with so much money at once, so they have to apply for loans."
Hardy knew.
This period was the first period of Hong Kong's property market boom, which lasted for about ten years. Of course, Hong Kong also experienced several property market crashes in the later period, and some people lost all their money, but these were not within Hardy's consideration.
He was preparing to enter the property market because the Hardy Group now had a large amount of land in stock, some of which were acquired from private individuals and some from the Hong Kong government. When Hong Kong was in crisis, the prices of these lands were very cheap, almost like cabbage.
Even if he sells the land now, he can still get more than 10 times the profit.
However, he will not release the land because he knows that the land price in Hong Kong will continue to increase in the future, and even if the property market collapses, the land price will not collapse.
According to statistics, how many times did the land price in Hong Kong increase from the 1950s to the 1980s? It increased by about 200 times.
This is a terrifying number.
What kind of investment can steadily grow 200 times in 30 years? Therefore, Hardy will not let go of these lands and will allow Hardy Real Estate Company to continue purchasing them.
When he entered the real estate market, he mainly built office buildings and low-rent apartments, which he only rented out and did not sell. He could build them now and collect rent to make money, and he could also wait for the land to appreciate in value. When the price was right in the future, he could sell them all at once. This was the best option.
As for the rent,
In fact, it can be cheaper, which can also help stabilize the Hong Kong property market.
.......
A few days later,
Princess Margaret arrived at Hong Kong Airport on the royal plane. Governor Grantham led a group of officials to the airport to greet her.
This is the highest-ranking royal member to visit Hong Kong since the founding of Hong Kong.
In addition to the delicate social environment in Hong Kong today, I believe this visit will play a great role in stabilizing Hong Kong society.
Hardy and Victor came to the airport to greet him, standing just behind Grantham.
The only reason why he is ranked behind Grantham is that this is Grantham's territory. In terms of status, Grantham is not as good as Hardy now.
Princess Margaret is dressed very beautifully today.
After getting off the plane, he politely shook hands with Grantham. When it was Hardy's turn, the two of them hugged and kissed each other warmly.
This scene was captured by reporters.
The next day's newspapers reported that Governor Hardy was closer to Princess Margaret than Grantham was.
"Your Highness, next we will take a yacht, pass through Victoria Harbour and head to Queen's Wharf, where a welcoming ceremony will be held." Grantham introduced the princess respectfully.
"Thank you, Mr. Governor."
Arriving at the pier,
We discovered that the yacht parked here was Hardy's super-large luxury yacht. Margaret was very familiar with this boat and her and Hardy's traces could be seen in many places on the boat.
She glanced at Hardy subconsciously.
The team arrived at Queen's Wharf, where tens of thousands of people gathered. Even the distant buildings were filled with spectators.
Princess Margaret gave a brief speech, which won applause, and then rode in a convertible Rolls-Royce to cruise through the streets and receive cheers from the crowd.
At this moment, there were many people standing on both sides of the street to welcome them. The government also specially organized primary and junior high school students to come out to welcome them. The girls wore white skirts and white shoes, and the boys wore white T-shirts and blue trousers, holding the British flag and plastic flowers in their hands.
After the ceremony, Princess Margaret finally stayed in the presidential suite of the Peninsula Hotel.
Originally, she could live in Grantham's Governor's Mansion, which was not only where the Governor lived, but also served as a reception place. However, when notifying the public before, Margaret specifically pointed out that she wanted to live in a hotel outside, which was actually for the convenience of movement.
night,
A grand reception was held at the Peninsula Hotel, where many Hong Kong officials, legislators, entrepreneurs and celebrities came to welcome Princess Margaret.
the next day,
Margaret began a busy schedule of visits, including visits to the government, the parliament, foreign companies, the Hong Kong headquarters of Hardy Company, industrial parks, etc.
Day 3
Princess Margaret was invited to board Viscount Hardy's yacht to enjoy the beautiful Hong Kong seascape as the yacht sailed out of Victoria Harbour.
The yacht did not return to the port until the evening. When Princess Margaret got off the boat, many reporters were still blocking the port.
A reporter asked the princess how it felt touring Hong Kong Bay.
"Very good, the scenery in Hong Kong is charming, I like it here very much." Margaret replied with a smile.
"What did you talk about with the Viscount?"
This is not a easy question to answer. To be honest, on that day, she and Hardy did more than they talked. Most of the communication was through body language, and verbal communication was very poor.
The three most frequently used words are "oh", "yeah" and "buy".
At this time, Hadi took over the topic and said with a smile: "I talked a lot with the princess. The princess is very concerned about the livelihood issues in Hong Kong. When she learned that Hong Kong's population has increased by hundreds of thousands in recent years and many people do not have suitable places to live, she asked how to solve it."
"The princess suggested building a batch of low-rent housing. We discussed this topic for a whole day."
"Did the discussion yield any results?" the reporter asked quickly.
"As a result of the discussion, the princess is going to propose to the Hong Kong government that the government take out some support funds and work with enterprises to build low-rent housing. It is difficult to make money by building such houses, so the princess asked me to hope that the Hadi Group would take on this task."
"Then Mr. Hardy, are you willing to take on this task?" the reporter asked.
Hardy smiled and nodded. "The Hardy Group is a responsible company that is willing to solve practical problems for Hong Kong society. In the end, the result of my discussion with the princess is to launch 50,000 low-rent housing units with a 30-year lifespan."
"I believe these low-rent houses can solve the housing problems of many families. They can live in low-rent houses at first, and when they have more money in the future, they can improve their living conditions and naturally move to better houses. I believe it can help many families."
......
The next day.
Many Hong Kong newspapers reported that Princess Margaret cares about the livelihood of Hong Kong people and has discussed with the Hardy Group to build 50,000 low-rent housing units to solve the housing problems of more than 200,000 to 300,000 people.
In fact, people don’t care too much about princesses or anything like that. They just want to live their own lives well. What Hong Kong lacks most right now is, of course, houses.
Now that people see the princess solving everyone’s housing problems, they naturally feel grateful to Princess Margaret.
Day 4
The princess's itinerary was to visit the Hong Kong Jockey Club, and of course, the main location was Hardy's Kowloon Jockey Club.
Today, wherever Princess Margaret went, she found that the people who welcomed her were much more enthusiastic than the day before. She asked Hardy beside her why.
"Because you helped them solve the housing problem of 50,000 units."
Margaret then realized that Hardy's words yesterday were not just to appease the reporters. When watching the Jockey Club show, Grantham was accompanying her, and Margaret talked to him about the issue of low-rent housing.
Grantham said that the Hong Kong government has actually been aware of this problem, but if it wants to build low-rent housing on a large scale, it will require a huge investment, and the government cannot come up with that much money all at once.
As for real estate companies, they are more inclined to build houses for sale; no one wants to build low-rent housing.
"Hardy has agreed to take the job, and I hope you two can cooperate well." Princess Margaret said.
"Yes, Your Highness. I will have someone contact Hardy Company about this matter later."
The Hong Kong government acted quickly and contacted Hardy Company the next day. Victor had already received orders from his boss, telling him how to respond.
Victor smiled and made the offer.
First, the government needs to provide the land and sell it to Hardy Real Estate at a low price. In fact, the government is taking the land from the government, and the value of the land appreciation is the value earned by Hardy.
The Hong Kong government said it could accept this.
The second is that the government provides part of the support funds, and Hardy Company provides the rest. The rent from renting out the houses belongs entirely to the Hardy Group.
The government had some objections to this statement, saying that they had spent money so why should there be no return? Victor said that low-rent housing took up a large amount of funds, and from the perspective of fund operation, Hardy Company itself was losing money.
The last sentence is, why don’t you do it yourself.
If the Hong Kong government could come on their own, they would have come a long time ago. In the end, they had no choice but to accept it.
Third, the government needs to be responsible for the provision of public facilities, such as kindergartens, primary schools, secondary schools, hospitals, bus stations, post offices, police stations, as well as tap water, electricity, telecommunications, gas, sewers, etc.
The government has no objection to this point, as this is the government's responsibility.
The fourth is...
There were many issues involved, but because Grantham intended to negotiate the matter before Princess Margaret left, it could be attributed to the princess.
For this, Grantham made great concessions.
The final result of the discussion was that the government would provide the land, part of the funds, and be responsible for the construction of public facilities.
It is equivalent to giving Hardy several large communities.
Yes,
It's free.
Because of the rent after completion, the ownership of the land that will be demolished 30 years later will all belong to Hardy Real Estate Hong Kong Company.
Moreover, even during the construction, there are many places to make money. For example, for the raw material cement, Hardy has a cement factory, for steel bars, Hardy has a steel factory, and for water pipes, nails and many other construction materials, Hardy is also producing them.
This invisibly boosted the sales of those factories and made them a profit.
Building so many houses can indirectly stimulate consumption, which can boost the economy of Hong Kong as a whole. If Hong Kong is doing well, its industries will naturally appreciate accordingly.
In a nutshell.
Margaret visited Hong Kong this time.
Hardy has made a lot of money 30 years from now. The land occupied by these 50,000 low-rent houses will be worth no less than 30 to 50 billion in 30 years.
In the middle,
Princess Margaret boarded Hardy's luxury cruise ship again and returned even later this time. However, many people imagined that the princess must have discussed with Viscount Hardy how to build 50,000 low-rent housing units.
The princess is working for the welfare of the people of Hong Kong.
After three days of negotiation, it was finally finalized.
In the newspaper,
The Hong Kong government and the Hardy Group issued a joint statement. With the help of Princess Margaret, the Hong Kong government and the Hardy Group cooperated to launch 50,000 low-rent housing units with a floor area ranging from 25 to 60 square meters. The rent is 15% of the basic monthly income of resident households.
After hearing the news, many Hong Kong citizens jumped up excitedly. Nowadays, many people live in a broken thatched house or even a house made of iron sheets and wooden boards. They really want to have a place to live.
Even low-rent housing is a paradise for them.
Margaret was preparing to leave Hong Kong and return to the UK. On the day she left, a large number of people gathered to see her off on the way from the hotel to the airport. The number was many times more than when she came to Hong Kong. Moreover, these people were not organized by the government, but came to see her off spontaneously.