Chapter 471 – The Investment Promotion Agency is in trouble! (1/2)

One day passed.

Two days passed.

As 1st May, Labor Day is approaching, problems start to surface in the Investment Promotion Agency, and it’s more than one problem!

Jia Yan, Sun Shuli, Luo Haiting, and the rest are looking terrible in the smaller meeting room. Jia Yan is the worst among them.

“Have you all confirm the total number of participants for the investment fair?”

“About 17 investors have confirmed they will be attending.”

“Only 17?! Old Sun! What are you doing? Ah?! Why are there so few participants?! Tell me!” Jia Yan is furious.

Sun Shuli replied. “I had told you before. Yan Tai County is different from other Counties!”

Jia Yan banged on the table. “You are shirking responsibility!”

Everyone got mad when they heard this.

Shirking responsibility? You are the person in charge of this investment fair, and we are just following your orders! We had followed your instructions, and you want us to take responsibility when problems occur?! Why didn’t you say anything when you come here to snatch credits?! You want to claim credit and let your subordinates take responsibility when something happens?! Can you be a bit more responsible?!

“Chief Jia, what are you saying?!” Sun Shuli is furious. “I had told you that it is impossible to get 100 investors and suggested to you to get the County Leaders to contact investment groups. This is not because I had not done my work or shirking responsibility. This is our County’s situation. Have you counted the number of participants in our previous investment fairs?! The average is only 20 people! It is the same every year, and this is the reason why we have not organized investment fairs for the past two years!”

Luo Haiting gave Jia Yan a side glance. “100 participants are impossible. When Chief Dong was around, he had set the target at 30 to 40 people.”

Jiang Hailiang added. “We must also discount the 17 participants. From previous experiences, some of them might not turn up.”

All these investors are busy, and they might change their plans last minute.

If something crops up in their company, they will not come. It’s not surprising to see only seven to eight people turn up for the fair.

Among the 17 participants, ten are invited by the Agency. Five are invited by Mayor Zhao, Mayor Xie, and other County Government Leaders. Only two of them are invited by Jia Yan.

Jia Yan had not expected this result and did not know Yan Tai County’s situation is like this. He doesn’t even need to persuade investors to attend the city’s investment fair with the City Investment Promotion Agency. Many investors will attend without invitations.

Jia Yan realized things are different in Yan Tai County. There is nothing here that can attract investors. Most of the replies he got when he called the investors is “I am busy on Labor’s Day.” The twenty-plus investors all shook their heads when they heard Yan Tai County. Even when lodging and meals are provided, they are unwilling to come to make up the numbers. They are businessmen, and their time is precious. Who cares about your lodging and meals? Only two of them, who is close with Jia Yan, agreed to attend.

Why is this happening?

Why is no one willing to come?

The investment fair is about to start, and they don’t even have enough participants. Jia Yan is frustrated, and even Sun Shuli, Luo Haiting, and the rest feel helpless.

At this moment, Sun Shuli suddenly misses Dong Xuebing. Although Chief Dong likes to talk big and had made a bold statement on his first day, “If other Counties can attract hundreds of millions worth of investments, why can’t we do it?!” But he can say this! Look at the total investments now. The confirmed 50 million RMB investment and the upcoming 100 million RMB project are all from Dong Xuebing. He dares to make these bold statements because he can achieve them.

But Jia Yan?!

He demanded 100 investors, and how many of them are going to turn up?!

Only 17! It will be a blessing if 10 of them turn up for the fair!

There will be only 10 participants at most, and Jia Yan had still asked for more funds for the investment fair to be grander. Just the venue at the hotel can hold 200 people. But now, only 10 participants will be turning up. With the County Government and Investment Promotion Agency’s staff, there will only be around 20 plus people in the hotel ballroom. It will look too pathetic and will be an embarrassment to the County Leaders!

Is this going to be another ‘much said but little done’ investment fair?!

Jia Yan felt this investment fair is not what he imagined, and he took a deep breath before asking them to try to get more investors to attend the fair. He wants the whole Agency to start calling investors immediately. After they left the meeting room, he did not inform Xiang Daofa about the situation immediately. Instead, he called Park Yongxi to invite him for lunch.