A delegation of Chinese investors is expected back in town this month after surveying Olds in May for a business venture.The delegation from the Sichuan Ruifeng Investment Management Group was looking at a possible land purchase to be turned into an agricultural business park, said Mitch Thomson, executive director of the Olds Institute for Community and Regional Development.“It was in the area so they looked at lands in the municipality that were available, several locations. And then they did spend some time looking at some opportunities in Red Deer as well,” he said.According to Thomson, he expects the group to return to town in July after touring Olds on May 19 and 20.If a deal goes through, he estimates the investment value to be $50 million.“So very substantial and very sizeable piece of land they were looking for,” he said.An agricultural business park would involve some production but would focus on processing, storage and shipping finished goods back to Chinese markets, he said.Negotiations are still in preliminary stages – Thomson describes it as relationship-building at this point.The investors made contact with Central Alberta Access Prosperity, an economic development organization, representing more than 40 municipalities, that focuses on promoting growth in Central Alberta.The institute started working with the delegation through the provincial government several months ago, Thomson said.“Some of the work of our Business Attraction Retention and Expansion committee had done some high opportunity investment profile for the last year. They had been able to translate those into Mandarin,” he said.Thomson said investors took an interest in Olds because the town is known as a reliable source of food production.“We're seen to be one of the few places in the world where we're still a breadbasket of food production,” he said. “The strength of Olds College in relation to agriculture and food production and the strength of our business community so there are a lot of different parties that would be able to support their initiative.”China has seen its middle class grow along with its appetite for more finished products and higher quality of life. Canadian businesses have a chance to serve that demand, Thomson said.“So Canadian companies have an opportunity to serve that market from both a knowledge basis and from a goods basis.”[email protected]
