We're building a super chaebol in Hong Kong

"Then, if we were to build an expressway between Yangcheng and Pengcheng, and you were to figure out how to make it happen, what's the fastest it could be open to traffic?" Su Cheng asked with a smile.

"Well, we would first need to conduct a feasibility study for this road, then submit it for approval, then raise funds, and then start construction. At the earliest, it should take 7 years, and at the latest, 10 years," the old man said after thinking for a moment.

Seven to ten years...

Su Cheng sighed upon hearing this.

He couldn't wait that long.

Even Bao Chuanwang couldn't help but shake his head.

"A specialized automobile road shouldn't take that long, right? The construction cost is at most 1 billion Hong Kong dollars, and the distance isn't that long either. Does it really need to take so long?" Su Cheng asked, voicing his doubts.

This wasn't about building a highway to the most stringent standards of later generations. He just wanted a decent, specialized automobile expressway. It was a very low standard. In Su Cheng's view, 1 billion Hong Kong dollars was more than enough.

It would be similar to a ring road in later generations. Su Cheng felt that if they first built such a road from Pengcheng to Yangcheng, it would be sufficient for a long time.

When the government had more money in the future, and the volume of passenger and freight road transport increased dramatically, and the existing roads could no longer meet the demand, they would naturally continue to build expressways.

"Mr. Su, you don't understand. Let me put it this way, Yangcheng's total economic output last year was only 4.3 billion yuan. Pengcheng's total economic output last year was even less, at less than 2 billion yuan. Building a specialized automobile expressway like the one you described would cost at least several hundred million yuan. With our fiscal revenue, we simply can't come up with that kind of money, unless the higher-ups allocate funds, but that's basically impossible. So, if we want to build it, we can only rely on the strength of our province," the old man said with a wry smile.

He also wanted to improve the infrastructure of Yue Province, but the problem was that the province lacked money!

A penny can stump a hero. It's not that the government doesn't want to invest in infrastructure, it's just that their finances can't come up with such a large sum of money right now.

The money the old man was talking about was naturally RMB, not Hong Kong dollars.

However, if it really required an investment of 1 billion Hong Kong dollars, that would be equivalent to more than 300 million RMB.

According to last year's exchange rate between the Hong Kong dollar and the RMB, it was 100 to 36.16.

In other words, 1 billion Hong Kong dollars was equivalent to 360 million RMB, which was already three times Pengcheng's total economic output for the year.

After listening to this, Su Cheng understood.

The mainland was indeed facing economic difficulties at this time.

This was the current situation in the mainland.

To change all this, it was necessary to vigorously develop the economy.

The mainland's biggest advantage was its demographic dividend.

This was also a very good development advantage.

"Mr. Bao, what do you think?" Su Cheng smiled and turned the question to Bao Chuanwang, wanting to see what insightful opinions he had.

"In my opinion, this expressway from Yangcheng to Pengcheng definitely needs to be built. Putting aside the issue of funding, if it's built to the engineering standards of Hong Kong, it would take at most two to three years. Since the government wants to develop the economy, then the procedures should be streamlined, otherwise there's no need to talk about economic construction. An empty slogan, no matter how loudly it's shouted, is useless. Building a road that takes seven to ten years... the world will have changed so much in that time!" Bao Chuanwang directly stated his thoughts.

"That's indeed a problem. Mr. Bao is right, shouting slogans loudly is useless. If we can solve the funding problem, I might be able to try to apply to the higher-ups to simplify the procedures. It shouldn't be a big problem," the old man said directly after carefully listening to Bao Chuanwang's words.

"If it's just a matter of funding, I might have an idea to solve this problem," Su Cheng said with a smile.

"Oh? Mr. Su, what's your idea? Please tell us," the old man looked at Su Cheng in surprise.

Bao Chuanwang was also very interested and wanted to know what Su Cheng's idea was.

1 billion Hong Kong dollars... that wasn't a small amount of money, it was a huge sum that most entrepreneurs couldn't come up with.

However, looking at Su Cheng's appearance, it seemed like he really had an idea, which immediately filled him with curiosity.

"Actually, it's very simple. Find investors to invest this money. After this specialized automobile expressway connecting Yangcheng and Pengcheng is open to traffic, we can implement a toll collection model. With the gradual opening up of the mainland's economy, the economic development of the Pearl River Delta region in the future will definitely be very rapid. Don't look at the fact that there aren't many cars now, but in a few years, I believe that the number of cars in Yue Province will increase linearly. In the future, relying on toll stations to recover costs won't be difficult. It's like Mr. Bao's investment in the Hong Kong Cross-Harbour Tunnel, which not only benefited the people of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon Peninsula, but also made you a fortune. It's a win-win situation," Su Cheng said with a smile.

Although Su Cheng had the ability to donate such a large sum of money, he didn't plan to rely on donations to solve everything. If he did, no matter how much money he had, it wouldn't be enough to donate.

So, if there were other ways to solve it, that would be the best.

"But that's just talk. No one knows how the economy of Yue Province will develop in the future. If there's little traffic after it's built, then the day of recovering the investment will be far away. 1 billion Hong Kong dollars is not a small amount. When I invested in the construction of the Hong Kong Cross-Harbour Tunnel, it only cost 320 million Hong Kong dollars," Bao Chuanwang raised the issue.

At this time, the old man also fell silent. Yue Province was an economic pioneer, without any experience. They completely needed to explore on their own, so even the old man didn't have 100% confidence.

"I wonder, Mr. Lao, if your government were to contribute money, how much could you contribute?" Su Cheng looked at the old man.

"We estimate that we can only come up with about 100 million RMB. After all, we're such a big province, and money is needed everywhere. It's impossible to spend too much money in one place," the old man said, giving a rough figure after taking into account the province's financial situation.

Su Cheng nodded and smiled again.

"Mr. Lao, Mr. Bao, this is easy to solve. We can establish a highway company in the name of the government. This company will be funded by the government and Hong Kong Chinese businessmen, and the dividends will be distributed according to the proportion of the investment. If Mr. Lao contacts the various businessmen in Hong Kong about this matter, I believe they will support it to some extent," Su Cheng said with a smile.

"What if the funds raised in the end are far from enough?" Bao Chuanwang continued to raise a question.

Even if the Yue Province government invested 100 million RMB, which would be equivalent to about 276 million Hong Kong dollars, it would still be far from the initial capital of about 1 billion Hong Kong dollars.

"It's very simple. Raise as much as you can. I'll make up for what's missing!" Su Cheng said boldly.

In the future, the route between Yangcheng and Pengcheng would definitely become one of the most prosperous passages in the mainland. He wasn't afraid of losing money if he invested here.

Even if these people weren't willing to contribute money, Su Cheng could do it himself. Anyway, he had a lot of money now.

However, it would be better for more people to invest in this kind of highway investment. It wasn't appropriate for him to swallow it alone. Some people would be jealous when they discovered this huge profit in the future.

That's why he wanted to involve Yue Province in this project.

1 billion... to others, it might be a huge sum, but to Su Cheng, it really wasn't anything. (End of chapter)