Kidl: Good question. South Korea, Shindo Island?
It would be helpful if KH or HB could give us an updated synopsis of the Anderson report. I have heard that it was quite thorough and optimistic about the potential economic viability of the Shindo Island project. The main obstacle seems to be that the next phase of planning will require two things: one, that the Insung Group (Sungold's JV partners) come up with the money to complete the purchase of the island, which is currently optioned; and two, that the Shindo Island Development Corp. (the joint venture group) finds a third, or senior partner, with deep pockets, to carry the whole project ahead. It's hard to say when that might happen. The Insung Group is really a consortium of companies, and as soon as they are flush, I expect we'll see some action. Your point about the brightening economic future is probably the main issue. Some other salient issues are also improving day by day, ie.; I believe that adjacent Inchon Airport is set to begin phased-in operations at the end of this year; and the last I heard, the new high speed transportation link between Seoul and the airport is also scheduled to start providing phased-in services at the end of the this year, or early next year. I haven't been keeping up with what's been going on with the Shindo project very much, but I've heard that Anderson has been working with Insung to attract the interest of a major investor. I gather that there have been a few nibbles. A couple of months ago, KH was mentioning that a large Chinese group (mainland? Hong Kong?) was considering it. At the AGM, Hans Banziger, the chairman indicated that he is shepherding the Shindo Island project from this end. One of us should talk with him and find out if there is anything he can tell us. Has anyone heard anything?
As you mention, the nice part about this project for Sungold now is that it is being carried at zero cost, so it's value can go up, but it can't go down. |
