Travel arrangements proved difficult, Qin explains, "It is impossible for us to have such an important politician come such a long way just to attend our function. It was only possible to get him over on the sideline of his visit to Asia."
After much consideration, the short-listed candidates were reduced to two, with the other being former United States vice president Al Gore. Both of them are active on the world stage. Gore has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his persistent efforts in environmental conservation while Blair, newly retired from his post, has been named the Middle East envoy.
The final decision came after scrutinizing the work schedule of the two candidates, and finding a time slot to coincide with the planned launching of Guangda's luxury villa project. Qin, through his connections with foreign affairs personnel, had found out Blair's "Asia tour" timetable in November, including its coverage of places like Beijing, Hong Kong, and Singapore.
From the timetable, Qin spotted a window of opportunity between November 5th and 7th, when Blair was scheduled to attend a campaign in Hong Kong by General Chamber of Commerce and Goldman Sachs, and two days later at Business Week's annual CEO meeting in Beijing. The time gap between the two events would allow the possibility of another event to be slotted in, especially as Dongguan is only two hours drive away from Hong Kong.
Down to Implementation
"Everything was a challenge to us, from the negotiation, the reception down to security issues … We didn't get the official approval until the day before Blair's visit," says Qin.
Usually, such an application needs multi-level governmental approvals and would take about half a year but Guangda managed all that within a month.
"We got in touch with Blair's office via Business Week," says Guangda's Qiao Qijun. Guangda soon received a reply, demanding that the speech be delivered in a five-star hotel, and t hat the guests be celebrities in politics and business. The reply also stated that Blair wouldn't visit any individual business project but would like to know more abouot residential development in China.
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