(); Compared with the deserted situation a year ago, the Presidential Palace located on Koro Island is much more lively. Because the outline of the white paint and marble columns resembles the White House and the magnificent subtropical gardens, it is also regarded as one of the tourist attractions by tourists visiting this place.
On the lawn in front of the courtyard, Jiang Chen could see bodyguards in suits and sunglasses, as well as tourists taking photos.
When Jiang Chen arrived, the president's chief of staff was already waiting at the door.
He is the only one in the entire New Zealand who does not need to make an appointment to see the president. After explaining his purpose, the chief of staff respectfully introduced him into the hall and took him to his office.
There are two people sitting on the sofa in the office.
One of them was naturally Zhang Yaping, but Jiang Chen, the white man, looked a little unfamiliar.
Seeing Jiang Chen come in, the two stood up. In line with the principle of giving priority to the distinguished, Zhang Yaping introduced Jiang Chen first.
"This is Jiang Chen, the chairman of Future Man Group, a star company in our new country. You should have heard of him."
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Jiang Chen." Wearing a black suit and a clean shave, Smith politely extended his hand to Jiang Chen.
"This is the representative of the American Matrix Desalination Company, Ludd Smith." Then, Zhang Yaping introduced Mr. Smith to Jiang Chen with a smile.
"Hello, Mr. Smith, nice to meet you too."
After shaking hands with him, Jiang Chen smiled and nodded, then took his seat and turned his questioning eyes to President Zhang Yaping.
Sensing the inquiry in his eyes, Zhang Yaping immediately smiled and said.
"That's right, we are currently planning to build a desalination plant in New Zealand, so we invited the American Matrix Desalination Company to conduct an engineering assessment on Coro Island for us."
"Desalination plant? Is there not enough fresh water on the island?" Jiang Chen asked unexpectedly.
"Not only is it not enough, New Zealand's current fresh water has been imported from Australia." Smith teased, taking out a stack of documents from his briefcase, "This document is about the distribution of groundwater on the island, and this document is about the selection of water treatment plants. site."
Jiang Chen had no idea how much water and electricity bills he had to pay for his villa every month. He didn't even bother to look at bills worth thousands or hundreds of dollars, not to mention he was always heading towards the end of the world. He didn't realize this problem until Zhang Yaping mentioned it.
Before the 20th century, Koro Island's underground freshwater resources were originally very abundant. but. As sea levels rise due to global warming, seawater washes away roads and houses on the island, causing seawater to inflow and seriously polluting groundwater. The freshwater resources on the periphery of the island no longer exist, and drinking water on the island can only rely on the only remaining groundwater in the center of the island and the small freshwater lake on Garin Island next door.
There is a lot of rainfall in the tropics, and the fresh water resources of the new country were originally sufficient. However, with the increase of immigrants and the surge of tourism, the water supply system that could only provide drinking water for 50,000 people now has to provide water for 150,000 people. In order to avoid paying for expensive water prices, many tourists even travel with backpacks full of mineral water.
However, the locals are having a hard time, and they can’t even buy fresh water on Amazon.
Including workers who have not yet obtained nationality, the current population of New Zealand has grown to 50,000.
Generally considered. In a well-equipped big city, each person needs to consume 400 kilograms of fresh water every day, which means that normal domestic water use in New Zealand requires 20,000 tons of water every day. According to statistics, about 1%-2% of normal urban water supply is for drinking, so at least 200-400 tons of fresh water are needed every day to maintain the drinking water needs of New Zealand residents.
You can save money on taking a bath, but you cannot save on drinking water!
Fortunately, the New Zealand government has money and signed a water supply contract with the Australian Water Company for a daily supply of 12,000 tons of fresh water to relieve domestic water supply pressure. However, the high shipping costs make imported fresh water unlikely to be a long-term solution.
The new parliament voted to decide. Tenders are being prepared to build a desalination plant on Koro Island to curb high water prices.
before popular dissatisfaction turns into protests.
Jiang Chen flipped through the documents casually, and Zhang Yaping continued speaking next to him.
"We plan to leave the desalination plant to you. If the Future People Group is not interested, we can think of another way."
"Why not leave it to the water plant?" Jiang Chen asked casually.
In Jiang Chen's impression. The Australian company -ate, referred to as C Group, is responsible for fresh water supply and water pipeline maintenance services in the Pannu Islands. Jiang Chen really has no interest in the fresh water supply market.
Even if it reaches the astronomical price of five US dollars per ton of water and monopolizes the entire freshwater business in New Zealand, the monthly net profit of this desalination plant will only be half a million US dollars.
The annual income is only 6 million, which is compared with Future Group’s income in the Internet, food, robots, automobile industry, medical and other fields. It's not even a small profit.
"Group C believes that our market is completely insufficient to support a desalination plant and ignores our bidding documents. Other small companies do not have the ability to accept bids. If it is not possible, the parliament is discussing this desalination project as a social Welfare projects, like public schools, are run by the government." Zhang Yaping said with a wry smile.
Even if the New Zealand government has money, it will not be able to afford the financial subsidies for fresh water.
"What's your opinion?" Jiang Chen looked at Smith.
Smith smiled slightly, took the document from Jiang Chen's hand, and turned to a page with color pictures.
"In view of the situation in the Pannu Islands, our company recommends the integrated seawater desalination device using the LT-MED principle in the document. The entire seawater desalination production line has a daily processing capacity of 35,000 tons, and the processing cost is per ton US$1.6 can perfectly solve the water supply crisis faced by New Zealand.”
"What about the price?"
"Including the construction of the treatment plant, our quote is US$150 million."
"It's too expensive." Zhang Yaping shook his head.
Even if equipment maintenance costs are not taken into account, under ideal circumstances, this freshwater treatment plant will take more than thirty years to recover the investment cost. Although he was not short of money, there was no reason for Jiang Chen to take a deal that was destined to be a loss.
Smith smiled helplessly.
"Desalination is a long-term investment. Believe me, a one-time investment is definitely more cost-effective than long-term import of fresh water."
"Can't it be cheaper?"
"This is the market price." Smith said in an uncompromising tone. "The desalination equipment designed by our Matrix Desalination Company for the Maldives, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and other countries is much more expensive than what we sell to you."
To be honest, after talking about this matter for so many days, Smith was a little impatient.
Negotiations have been going on for so long, but there has been no progress at all. The New Zealand government wants to develop seawater desalination, but it doesn’t want to pay for it itself. Group C, the largest tap water supplier, rejected him directly, making him feel that he was simply wasting his time.
The company urged him to resolve the matter here as soon as possible and take his team to Saudi Arabia. There is also a cooperation project with the Saudi Desalination Company worth US$1 billion waiting for him there.
At this time, Jiang Chen suddenly spoke.
"Wait, you mean... the market price of seawater desalination equipment is very expensive?"
"What else? Do you think desalination is just about setting up a stove to boil water? I recommend you give it a try."
After leaving these unceremonious words, Smith stood up, left a business card on the table, and looked at Zhang Yaping.
"Unfortunately, Mr. President, we were unable to reach a cooperation agreement, and my team and I have wasted a week on the island. Regarding the costs of geological assessment and water treatment plant site selection inspections, we can only settle the bills separately." We will send it to the Presidential Palace in seven days. If you and your think tank are sure to discuss it, please contact us again at that time. I have a flight in two hours, see you later."
After saying that, Smith picked up his briefcase and left without looking back.
Zhang Yaping wanted to stay, but Jiang Chen held him back.
"Let him go. I don't care about cooperating with them." Jiang Chen said with a smile.
"Hey, if it doesn't work out, you can still get this money. You can't keep importing fresh water from abroad... Wait, what did you say? Are you planning to get involved in the fresh water business?" Zhang Yaping suddenly came back to his senses and was pleasantly surprised. He looked at Jiang Chen.
If Futureman Group plans to take over this project, he has nothing to worry about!
"I didn't have this plan originally," Jiang Chen said unceremoniously, and then he smiled again, "But from what he said, the scale of the seawater desalination market seems to be a bit big."
What a mistake. He only focused on Xinguo. Jiang Chen almost forgot that Xinguo was not the only country in the world that was short of water! Oil giants such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are all countries where water is more expensive than gold.
Let’s not talk about the far ones, let’s talk about the near ones. Why does China carry out the hugely expensive South-to-North Water Diversion Project? Isn’t it because of the lack of water in the north? If more than a dozen freshwater treatment plants can be built along the Bohai Sea, will the South-to-North Water Diversion Project still be necessary
Seawater desalination is not just a small profit, it is a huge profit! Is desalination technology a problem in the 22nd century? The reverse osmosis method, low-temperature multi-effect method, and electrodialysis method are simply too weak!
I was so blind that I almost didn't pick up the banknotes at my feet.
Thinking of this, Jiang Chen couldn't sit still anymore and stood up with a slap on his thigh.
Hum, sorry, Matrix Desalination Company, right? From now on, you have competitors!
Seeing that Jiang Chen was planning to leave, Zhang Yaping couldn't help but asked anxiously.
"Are you going?"
He didn't stop Smith when he left just now, and now that Jiang Chen was planning to leave without saying a word, he couldn't help but feel a little anxious.
Someone has to solve this fresh water problem!
Stopping, Jiang Chen turned around and smiled at him.
"Go talk to Group C. I just suddenly remembered that Future Renmin Heavy Industries seems to be able to do the desalination equipment."
Hearing Jiang Chen's "it seems so", Zhang Yaping almost vomited blood and complained harshly to Jiang Chen in his heart.
Hold the grass! Your sister, you should have said it earlier if I could do it for you! (.)