Cox News Service
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
BEIJING — How do you convince Chinese executives to invest in Georgia?
Low costs, an educated work force and direct flights - as well as "Gone with the Wind," Martin Luther King, Coca-Cola and Jimmy Carter - are among incentives state officials highlighted at a conference in Beijing last weekend.
The sales pitch was part of a burgeoning state effort to bolster trade ties with the world's fastest-growing large economy.
As China's economy has surged over recent years, Chinese companies have begun to invest overseas. According to the latest available U.S. government data, Chinese investment in the United States rose to $554 million in 2006 from $385 million in 2002.
Some of that money has made its way to Georgia. Several Chinese companies have signed contracts to build factories in the state in recent years, including a commitment last September by Sany Heavy Industry Company, a Chinese producer of construction equipment, to build a factory in Peachtree City that will create 200 jobs.
"China is the world's third-largest economy and it's critical for us to establish a diverse and deep relationship with them," Kenneth Stewart, commissioner of the state's Department of Economic Development, said at the Beijing conference, which was sponsored by the state and by Atlanta law firm Morris, Manning & Martin.
"Our goal is to sell Georgia," he said.
The state has unleashed a flurry of efforts to achieve that aim. The Department of Economic Development recently opened an office in Beijing to promote trade and investment, and Governor Sonny Perdue will make his first trip to China in April. More here.
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