Commentary: Umesh Pandey
Lessons over lunch from a Chinese mayor
- Published: 26 Feb 2013 at 11.40
- Newspaper section: Asia focus
Over the past few weeks I have had the opportunity to travel extensively and every trip has been a new learning experience. With all the hoo-ha surrounding the Bangkok governor election, the lessons I learned from watching a Chinese mayor in action seem timely today.
In last week’s column I mentioned a last-minute invitation to travel to Hong Kong (and the surprisingly good service, albeit in first class, on Thai Airways) and today I’ll finish the rest of the story.
The trip was an unusual one, in that it was “off the record” and I can’t name my Thai corporate host. It was a very rare opportunity to gain some insights into the experiences of Thai companies and executives doing business in China. Little was off-limits — unlike the usual stage-managed junkets where journalists are pampered but treated like wayward children at the same time. I wasn’t fed corporate propaganda, but simply invited to sit back, observe and learn.
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