Casey Council spending $620k on trips to China to woo business leaders
CASEY ratepayers will fork out more than $600,000 to send council delegates on trips to woo Chinese business leaders, but could the council use its new, state-of-the-art teleconference rooms instead?
South East
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RATEPAYERS will fork out more than $600,000 to send council delegates on as many as two official trips to China each year as part of a plan to woo business leaders to Casey.
Casey councillors last week threw their support behind the big-ticket strategy, which will see the city shell out $620,000 over two years.
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This year the council will spend $56,300 for a soccer exchange trip for two youth soccer teams to compete in the Chengdu province in April.
About $30,000 has already been spent on a China consultant, and a further $4000 will be spent luring investors to a powdered milk factory and $6000 to host a visiting delegation to Casey.
Cr Milla Gilic questioned the need for such regular visits, given the council had recently built a state-of-the art teleconference facility at Bunjil Place.
Cr Gilic, who said she had many Chinese clients through her business, said it was not true that the Chinese were averse to teleconferences.
“(To say) there is something about person-to-person meetings with them, maybe the first time,” she said.
“(But) they are quite happy to video conference.”
Casey manager of economic development David Wilkinson said face-to-face meetings were part of Chinese business culture and there was no point in trying to have a relationship with the Chinese if Casey was “only going to visit for two or three years and then stop”.
“There is a strong business case for this trip in April and we will be back there in October as well — there are two trips budgeted for the next financial year,” he said.
“The advice (from consultants) is face-to-face with government agencies is the way the Chinese want to conduct their business.
“We are trying to attract business-to-business connections and that cannot be done online on through video conferences.”
Cr Sam Aziz agreed: “Given the cultural ethos we are dealing with here (Bunjil Place’s) technology is not really relevant.”
Australia China Studies forum director and RMIT Head of Languages Guosheng Chen said when starting business with a potential Chinese partner it was crucial to first meet face-to-face.
“At the same time teleconference is a popular way of doing business, but again, it is when trust has been established between two parties,” she said.