August 11, 2019.
A torrential downpour swept through Dawei Port.
Liu Zhifan set down the document in his hand. It was a letter of intent from the Coca-Cola Company, sent through a compradore in Yangon.
"Heh... They're trying the same trick again. Do they really think we're fools?"
Ma Chi shook his head and picked up a cup of Longjing Tea. "There are plenty of fools, and no shortage of people who pretend to be fools. They just have different motives."
The terms the Coca-Cola Company offered in its letter of intent were extremely generous. That wasn't because they'd suddenly developed a conscience; they were testing the Qingye Group.
Clearly, the Coca-Cola Company had already learned through various channels that the Qingye Group was supplying Jin Xing and Shaxi with cheap glass bottles.
The Coca-Cola Company felt the pressure of such inexpensive bottles, as well as the threat they posed.
So they were using the letter of intent to test the Qingye Group's glass-bottle production costs, while also hoping to draw the group into their camp through a partnership, then eventually swallow it up.
It was one of the Coca-Cola Company's usual tactics.
Whether entering the Chinese market years ago or investing in factories in Annam, Lancang, and Khmer over the past few years, they always partnered with local businesses, gradually crushed local brands, and ultimately monopolized the market.
They especially liked working with compradores. It wasn't that the compradores were unaware of their partners' ulterior motives; it was simply that their interests aligned.
The compradores only cared about making money, and making it quickly.
As for national brands, local industry, and technological independence, those things were hardly essential to compradores eager to become international citizens.
Of course, if those "slogans" could bring them greater profits, they didn't mind putting