Business and friendship

[color=Navy][size=3][color=Maroon][color=Maroon][color=Navy][size=3]I have an old friend from Cyprus, he is a senior people, maybe 80 years old now. He come from England, but living in Cyprus now. When he was young, he worked in HongKong at 50??s last century. I tell the story, just to tell that there is not always business, but friendship as well.Q/p7\/H/K@

8FKnw"YKs I get in touch with John occasionally from the Internet, when I were searching the potential foreign clients there in this country. Let??s go:[/color]
&r"yQ7I9Y!S4M8l When I sent him the marketing letter very first time last December, I want to enter this market, and sell our products there,
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O9a#a|P]k I must find some wholesaler or retailer there, and repair shop there as well.q]l-cS+i],~
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As strangers who never contact each other before, he told me:[/color]
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Dear Mr Michael Chu,#j
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Right now there is a holiday season here and everything is shut with no business being conducted. Also I have to point out that this is a very small country with less than a total population of 1 million. It has no manufacturing of diesel machinery but there is a considerable repair business both for road and marine business. Any orders from here would be in small quantities. Are you really still interested??/Sg y-{1Z9q B
Yours, John Rippengal.*^ADEO
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[color=Maroon]I replied him that we value each potential market and customer, because there is business possibility. [/color]
2EM.VedC)R%`%k And he told me that why the people there don??t want to do business with Chinese suppliers:o H@C?hX;Z

L~0QUDb Dear Michael,CZ(j4Fs5q#IE
Very many thanks for your good wishes which I heartily reciprocate.%r`/~sT s
I had a long talk last week with the biggest diesel repair and parts stockist here in Paphos. First I should like to say that it was clear from him that what I previously reported to you about the market being closed by the big traders is not correct. I think that story was told me by some of the small business because they wanted to discourage me and they were not interested.The market is in fact quite open and each of a myriad small businesses tend to import their own stuff from Europe.
!t4D5O$K aDS There are many reasons for them not to want to change their source of supply: Transport. Hardly any business is big enough to want to order a full container of parts at one time. From Europe it is relatively easy and cheap to get small quantities shipped. Customs. There are no customs formalities for parts from Europe but there are from everywhere else and clearing is a  time consuming and expensive business. Our friends in the customs department whose work load has gone down since our accession to the EU are compensating by stretching the remaining work to ensure there are no redundancies. It is not so much the level of tax is too high it is just the extra work of clearing with the bureaucracy. The diesel stockists are quite conversant with competing products from China which they see at trade fairs in Europe.
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Nevertheless the attitude seems to be that although parts from China may well be cheaper at origin the difficulties of transport, customs, etc make it not worth their while to comtemplate change from their existing suppliers. Moreover I am told the European prices are currently quite competitive.
^&Nq?X nY"_!Z? There is also the question of the 'unknown' in terms of untried quality.
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I don't see an easy way to break through this Michael.
3k%U:sQ,W)OJ Yours with my very best wishes,)`:z6r!}k'Ii8gCv
Johnh%|a1W!M2H)a7f0{YE-K
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[[color=Maroon]color=Maroon]I really feel somehow sad on this, but I must try and find the possibility to break the situation.[/color]
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When I want to get some advise from him for this new market for us there, so we need to make everything clearly and know why and how.[/color]X4Kw dh
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He tells me:
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5QwG+R2dN2i Dear Michael,
~7CQW-^O It is important that you get this trial shipment into Cyprus successfully. How were you proposing to send it? If it was by courier such as DHL or Fedex etc then they are always very expensive. What about airmail post?? This is usually much cheaper and is certainly quite quick from Hong Kong - say about 10 days. I don't know about the postal service from Mainland China but 4.5KG airmail should not cost much more than $25.Postal service will of course involve the recipient having to clear the customs but this is very simple for postal items. Airfreight and sea freight customs clearance is a nightmare. Do you know the universal standard customs category number for these parts? It would be useful to quote it on the invoice as then there would be less argument with the customs officers.These are just some thoughts while we are waiting for Panayiotis to come back from his holiday. For this small trial shipment I would be willing to gM|jw
receive the goods and clear customs at the post office and then send them by local courier to Panayiotis which is very cheap.  Dzz_!}x
Yours,John
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*SWc;g*nq [color=Maroon]And also the local Customs there, he tells me that:[/color]/gMV'sO(s^2r

.X+|Pe,V;[b Dear Michael, a \ oR)]I%cdb/Pc
The local holiday is the Greek Orthodox Christian Easter - the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on Friday and his resurrection on Monday. The holiday here usually lasts at least until Tuesday and because they observe the period of 'Lent' - that is 40 days of fasting (not eating any meat or fish or protein) up until Monday  they usually go to town and feast on a whole sheep or pig and get themselves very ill for another day or so. So the official holiday is from Friday until Tuesday but apart from getting ill from overeating many small businesses close down for a week or so either side of the official holiday so they can visit Greece or England where many relations live. In the western world ' Europe and America' they also observe Easter but usually the holiday falls on different dates from the Greek orthodox holiday. The difference arose because when Christianity was in its early phase - say 0 to 400 AD - the main power was the Roman Empire which ;\ ~5I#wyc:Xs-]AU R
stretched all over the Mediterranean and Middle East and as far north as the British Isles. As usual with empires there was a qarrel between two candidates for being Emperor and therefore one of them set his new headquarters in Constantinople instead of Rome. So another branch of the Christian church set up around that new capital which is now called Istanbul
J"c3fJtQZ6s'{2L and is in the Muslim country of Turkey. Nevertheless the main church bishops still hang out there and control the 'Orthodox' version of Christianity which is followed in Greece, Russia, Ukraine and some middle east countries i9`&tL)f
including Cyprus while the rest of the christian world in Europe and America follow the Pope in Rome.(at least the Catholic Christians that is).Most English people don't follow any of this but they still enjoy the holiday anyway.
iR4AT(f Fa0C,F!A Yours, John.]i$sq/FR

qX_sgx@] [color=Maroon][color=Maroon]But, it is so hard for us to get familiar with those customs from other countries, then if some local people who knows the conditions there as a guider, then things come single, because it is more lively and interesting than the words in the books![/color]
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2l7H(t*v3Q'pR)o'u9J:i(a What about all of these. I have leant so much from him, a respectable senior foreigner. Under his help, I got to know some importers there in Cyprus, and do some sample orders now. I keep in touch with John for almost one year and the friendship will go on and on.
sq2F4h+q!A I ask him to visit China again some time and dinner him seafood at my hometown. If so, it will be half of the century since he was in China last time. [/color]

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Tell me if you learn from these words too.[/size][/color]:)[/size][/color]
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Y3W"Ah3cp"u [[i] Last edited by  bacon999 at 2006-10-17 10:09 [/i]]S'Q2c _OE[ _j%H&a
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[[i] ?????????¡§??? peter-jetstar ?? 2006-10-24 20:53 ??¡§¡è?? [/i]]

Yes, I learn much from it. It is amazing.RCYO~dTu,hgd
My colleage also has a Cyprus customer, but I know little things between them.F+X)H5s,v#B*h2s X
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I also have a customer who I tell him everything I can find and I know. And he also helps me in many respects.\T7S#FU
I am sure first  business, then friendship.

very good. excellent!
DYI5vIjIk I like this kind of business and customer.
_3A7Ozr LA It's hard to find a real friendship. Your succeeded.#C0MxK-d%h
Congratulations!:Lo)uE'DJ
I learned too much, thank you!

excellent!
(C0e5v4A$op I have learn much throught your experience.well done

Hehe, MY first come here.7H9U_-Frt([ y
Sometimes friendship wil generated from business, But only SOME times

excellent!!!

i learned very much,thanks

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excellent ,i can learn from that

friendship is the first.  business is after friends.:P

Business is business, especially when you contact the foreigners at first time.
}!fVB#uB It will be much better if you can be friends with buyers; but it is not wise to say friendship at first contact.+iJyT3u7MW_X A
Just for reference.

i don not know how to evaluate this matter , i dont think there are friendship in business, business is business freidship is friendship.

you are very luck to have a good friend like john

yeh????business is business, friendship is friendship,{Tr4G m[C(o

s/YD^|p!?P at the first contact, you should be more professional, XM\
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but then,zn(iIhpE~[S2G
it is lucky and pleasant to be real friends with business partners,
%W^P5r*akz%x3H-[+o When I was in auto parts field , n}tNc
I had a working partner, from UK,
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though we have no business contact, we are still friends.
8H/T^ZZ&t.n0z,V[ since MG Rover 's collapse, he work for Airbus,
;K.^)bT4]!` and I work in a new field, 0xDz"@T
several days ago, we had a wonderful chat, he wish he could come to China
T"Y Y];Ta sN on business trip, and then we can meet ... 4Hx4x%@5Tf-\
haha,
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[[i] Last edited by  peter-jetstar at 2006-11-27 19:47 [/i]]

I feel very strange why you Haha?*G|A}E+|CN
Is it very proud/funny thing to introduce Chinese girl to Foreigners?d2] t!XC&[[$J%q
Morality is important.

Mr. Peter,
'q5L-EkuLU8y I think you have some misunderstanding or so-called prejudice in this matter.
0W@ T:Tj)Ah My british friend told me that there was a Chinese girl in his university played
!X~b?\FeNX%O wonderful piano for him.
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%D%sl7kVB\ And that give him a good impression on the Chinese girl, but what a pity,+`:g^6ZSF^'z
he lost contact with that girl. a6L2N:G;S FSD#]0B2w
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yeh, it is fun when boys are talking about girls...
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don't put too much attention to whether he is a foreigner or not...,_8it*\ Y#yp
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Introduce friends to an old friend is nothing to do with morality problem...
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4ZZ+JrP k$PD what do you think?F^L5{
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dw,k4w,q;{p"[2qH#H I am not introducing a prostitute, OK?

Reply #15 Anson-ke's post

That is good, Anson-ke.
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(C:Z4^)\-G(C It makes me throw out when I see some Chinese girls' performance. Really angry.;c*x2k5t,oS
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It will be good if they can really really respect each other. But problem is can they? More often than not, the answer is no.
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Sorry about my quick anger.

MR. xshazwu
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i am sorry, what r u talking about?%j0\Q|,xX)M

Pb9t0cD what makes you angry?3_#Jl^1P8O"s
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but you start by 'that's good'
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I am really not sure what you want to tell us

Xshazwu and peter are the same person.
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so you can know why xshazwu talk the things related to peter

thanks,
"r&J6h6_Kgac[ Peter,
:{x%zObk+~!E+[ now I clearly understand your angry and what you are worrying about!

opportunity and challenge

opportunity and challenge

I do not know how to elevate this matter. I do wish I can make friends with business partner,   but I have heard that many people, especially people with years?? experiences in this field said that business is business, there's no friendship in business..M5A!]9hAH*`

%QJ W,r+U@ Any way ,thanks for your amazing story.:)

it is the religion encounting

I also think the busines must be part from friendship.No matter in the same country or different country .YR$U-R2~
but there is difference in the personal religion.2\ b7f s1JE/T
if you have common in religion,and you appreciate,yo can make friends in business.

My follow friends,
0j3F0eL5^TeG9Fx Let us back to my words--friendship with John,he is only an friend of mine,no business there.V PJJ_u.S
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I always send him emails to discuss the business going on with those importers who he recommended.It is very nice to share the joy of success .He is very concern about these,and take me as one of his grandson.
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,Tez,r^|6G&{ As I said,he is live in Cyprus with his wife and his family are there in England,in his last email,he says:
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3|.g;{kp\#c\&y2? Very many thanks for your email which I first received after midnight last night. I had just got back from the airport on a flight from England where my wife and I have been visiting for the past two weeks. We were visiting our family and we were attending a 'pensioners' lunch for the old employees of the the company I worked for in overseas telecommunications. Most of those attending were a lot younger than I am as I have been retired for a very long time.:s^ Y,t\

0h%h7c&oe` I} I was very pleased to hear that you have secured another order from
pG'_Cp!Y4yF)R Panayiotis. I was a little worried that as I had not heard from you that the business had 'dried up'. It's good news.
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Anyway I was also very pleased that you enclosed a picture of your wife and baby son. What a lovely family. I'm afraid I am a lot further along the time line as even my grandchildren are all either in their twenties or 'teens except for one who is nine years old. I'm enclosing a picture of her and no doubt you will be surprised because she is Chinese. Both my wife and I are English and so are all my family but little Amy Li was adopted when 9 months old from the district of Nanchang in China nearly 9 nears ago by my number four daughter Bronwen.
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*c9J#N9x3_Ob1h She is a very bright and nice little girl; she is top in maths and science &v D?(R8|b.N#I)uk
and she is also the best sportsgirl in her class plus she has recently been elected to represent the class on the school council. So you see she is also very popular with her classmates. There are four other Chinese students in the school but they are very senior. One boy and girl from Beijing and one boy and girl from Hong Kong. The four of them have been helping Amy to learn some basic characters and some pu tong wah. Later this year she will attend a proper class to study pu tong wah.
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:QaMsOE"C As to the rest of my family we have five daughters ( I expect you think that is unlucky) and seven grandchildren altogether. Only two of them are boys but all except Amy are grown up or nearly so;  the youngest is a teenager and the oldest is nearly 28.6`DJ}0rn/PL
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He looks me as one of his real friends,I can feel it,the sincereltity,and I enjoy a lot for all his kind words,he is knowledgeable elderly.
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2o kMN6hckY Now,all of you know his family better as me do,such as Ms.Amy Li,a chinese little girl who was adopted by his daughter Bronwen.They are kind-heart./D!q,};[s
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3c0W5B6Nm'hk I told john that I have share the letters from him with my friends here in FOB Forum,and he was happy on this.
6}JAm'g0z j}Q8^
t#Nm*P{/W1R @ I sent him the Christmas Card on December 22th,he reply me as follow:
*jq'K9Z0`!k:z4L9}P Very many thanks for your card and good wishes. It arrived while I was on my way to Larnaca airport which is about 100 miles from my home, in order to meet my daughter and Amy who were arriving from England. They could not get a flight to Paphos which is the airport quite nearby. They were in fact very lucky to arrive because so many flights were being cancelled from London Heathrow due to the thick fog and freezing temperature which was putting ice on the wings of the planes.
0\B7Mw glS They will be spending 10 days here for the Christmas holiday.(fyOt3|8?"h)WjF

9z j)dw"bH Not sure if you will be celebrating this festival in China but anyway I wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. In fact 'Kung Xi Fa Chai' although that's a bit early for your New Year.3O8R@ r)f8VJ$i
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Here,I say it again:ljv^aI7_ A
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,John and all of dear friends.og_1P vTx

/@p%Dj)]%s/c)m@XM 'Kung Xi Fa Chai' to all the FOB friends!:)

Yes, you have made clarification before.
(b8UBr8y] Perhaps the title of "Business and Friendship" is not suitable for your mind.
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,H.k9f:A8|a sp You are so lucky and so great. Try and get more life.+M@YL0H,Q~;?/r
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Happy New Year to all.

I am also have a pen friend in UK, and we are keep 2years friendship. till August 2006, we haven't contact with each other any more from the first time we meet .
l^$fX HH So I found that not every foreigner is a good man. By then, I hate foreigner very much, But i have to keep to contact with some foreigner as my  work .

Reply #26 adaying's post

Why do you stop contacting with each other?
h'W+Vi4~2l-E*Qc9H? Is this matter the reason why you hate foreigners? Sounds very stange

frinendship is important

no matter where you are from ,no matter where you are working,friend is always the first for ever.please believe that if you don't have friend,the sky will become gray.really!