Wang Jing, the owner of the concession for the great work, may have lost 84% of his personal assets in recent stock market upheavals in China.
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
While there has never been complete certainty about the realization of the gigantic work which could radically change the development prospects of one of the poorest countries in the hemisphere, news of the serious economic losses suffered by its promoter Wang Jing, tip the balance of opinions on the Grand Canal to the negative side.
Although there have been many expressions of interest from potential investors, as yet, there has never been a presentation definite sources of financing, and the person who apparently paid the $500 million spent on preliminary studies is the very same Wang Jing, who according to an article on Bbc.com only has about $1.1 billion left out of an estimated $10.2 billion that he had before the collapse of the Chinese stock market.
"... One of the studies funded by Jing, released last week, concluded that the initiative still had "a lot of risks and uncertainties'. The Project offers real benefits for the environment and the people of Nicaragua," says the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment, prepared by the British consultancy firm Environmental Resources Management. 'But only if the business case is robust, the financing to complete construction can be assured and the Project be constructed and operated according to international standards," adds the report, which also makes it clear that in order to reduce uncertainty, numerous new studies are still needed."
¿Busca soluciones de inteligencia comercial para su empresa?
Its promoters claim that the resources to build it are there, with no more details, but the announcement of the postponement of the start of the mega work following the huge losses suffered by Wang Jing in the chinese stock market, has only increased the doubts.
Doubts about the feasibility of this project have been present since it was first announced, but they now appear to be increasing given the contradictions arising from the information that the project spokespersons themselves have been giving out.
Arguing that they are improving the design of the waterway, the Chinese company HKND has announced that works will begin in late 2016.
Although December 2015 had initially been stated as the starting date of the primary works on the canal, such as excavation, the Chinese company has now announced that it will postpone these works until the end of 2016.
Although many still doubt that the mega project will actually be built, it's time to think and take action both to mitigate the adverse effects it may have on the Costa Rican economy and to take advantage of any business opportunities that may present.
EDITORIAL
The productive sectors in Costa Rica are starting to measure the positive and negative consequences of both the construction and future operation of the Grand Canal of Nicaragua.
The hitherto largely unknown businessman Wang Jing emphasizes mega project's separation from the Chinese government, while announcing agreements with large companies for its construction.
A Reuters article reports that Wang Jing, who heads the Grand Interoceanic Canal of Nicaragua project is ignoring the skepticism about how a little known entrepreneur can run such a huge transcontinental project, while insisting that he is not an agent of the government in Beijing .
×
ok
7878Government Procurement Opportunities in the region