Passage3Yesterdaywewentthroughthemainpontsoftheproposaljointventure.Nowyouhaveseenthefactory.Shallwediscusstechnologytransferbriefly?Ah,I'mjustcomingtothat.Ifyouwanttheproductstocompetesuccessfullyontheinternationalmarket,you'llhavetoacquireadvancedtechnology.Certainly,thetechnologytobeimportedshouldbeadvancedandappropriatetoChina'sneeds.Excuseme,Mr.Zhao,whenyousayimportedtechnology,whatdoesthewordtechnologyreferto?Naturallyitdoesn'tmerelyrefertoindustrialproperty.Know-howisalsoincluded.Weagree,buttheknow-howwepromisetotransfertothejointventurecompanyiswhatweareadoptinginourproductionatthemoment,andyou'llpayforitintheformofroyaltiesapartfromacertaininitialdownpayment,right?Yes,andatthesametimewealsoexpectthatinthedurationofthejointventure,youcancontinueofferingusyourimprovedtechnologicalexpertise.Astothepriceoftechnology,theminimumgenerallyacceptedis5%ofthesalespriceofalllicenseditemsmadeandsoldduringthetermoftheagreement,inadditiontoaninitialdownpaymentofUSD100,000.I'mafraidboththeroyaltyrateandtheinitialdownpaymentamountaretoohigh.I'msureyoucanunderstandthatthecompanywillhaveatoughtimeintheinitialstagesofcooperation----lowyield,possiblyunstablequality,highexpenses.Howcouldthejointventurebearsuchaheavyadditionalloadeachyear?Thiswouldcertainlybreakthebackofthecompany.Theinitialdownpaymentcannotbereduced,butwemayconsiderloweringtheroyaltyrateabitlittle.Inaddition,eventhesumofUSD100,000hardlycoversalltheexpensesspentontechnologicalinformation,drawings,personneltraining,etc;nottomentionthetravellingexpenseswe'llhavetopayforthisjoboftechnologytransfer.Well,itcouldworkifthefirsttwoyearsofproductionwereexemptfromroyaltyandiftheratecamedownto3%ofthenetsalesprice.Howlongwillthetermofagreementbe?Generallynotlongerthan10years.Wewillacceptyourproposaltobeginroyaltypaymentsinthethirdproductionyeartoshowthatwewanttocooperate.Torendergoodforgood,astheChinesesayinggoes,weagreetotheamountofUSD100,000astheinitialdownpayment.That'sasignofoursinceredesiretoventurejointly.Andwhatdoyousaytothe3%royaltyrate.Allright.We'llacceptit.Mr.Zhao,youseewehavebeentryingtodowhateverwecantoworkcloselywithyou,notonlyinwordsbutindeeds.Nowonemoreword,sinceyoumentionedquality,wewanttohavetheexamplesofthefirstproductionsenttousinSeoul.Ourtechnicaldivisionwillmakesurethatthesilkvelvetmeetsthenecessaryspecifications.We'lldothat.OK,Ithinkthingsarequiteclearnow.昨天我们就合资企业的主要内容进行了讨论。现在你们又参观了工厂,我们是不是就技术转让作简要的探讨呢?啊,我正想提这点。要是产品在国际市场有竞争力,就必须获得先进技术。一点不错。引进的技术必须是先进的,并且适合中国的需要。对不起,赵先生,您说的引进技术,这“技术”是指什么?当然不仅仅是指工业产权,也包括转悠技术。这我们同意,但我们答应转让给合资企业的专有技术,是指我们同步在生产中使用的技术。而且除了一笔入门费之外,你们还将以提成方式予以报酬,对吗?是的,同时我们还希望你们在合资经营期内不断向我们提供新的技术。关于技术的报酬问题,我们除了要10万美元的入门费之外,在协议有效期内,凡生产和销售的许可商品,我们至少还要按净销售价的5%提成。恐怕这笔提成率和入门费的数目都太高了。我确信你们能够体会在开业的最初阶段,公司会经历一段艰难的时期——产量低,质量可能不稳定,开销又大,怎么还能再承担这么巨大的额外负担,这肯定会毁了这公司。入门费是不可减少的,但我们可以考虑略低些的提成率。况且即使10万美元也不够技术情报、图纸、人员培训等方面所有的开销,更不用说我们为了技术转让必须开支的那些差旅费了。好吧,如果头两个生产年度免提成费,而且提成率低到净销售价的3%,那么还是可以接受的。这个协议的期限有多长?一般不超过10年。我们将接受你们关于在第三个生产年度开始支付提成费的建议,以表示我们有合作的愿望。我们中国有句话:“以德报德”,我们愿意出10万美元的入门费。这是我们真诚愿意和你们共同冒险合资的一个表示。那这3%的提成率呢?好,我们接受。赵先生,您瞧,我们不仅在口头上,而且在行动上,一直在尽力密切地配合你们。还有一件事,既然您提到了质量,我们希望你们能将第一批产品的样品寄往首尔,由我们技术部来鉴定丝绒是否达到必要的规格。我们会做的。好,我们现在已经谈妥了。