Business Talks

Our company is one of the leading' manufacturers of engines' in Minsk. We produce a wide range of engines for automobile industry. We produce 80 % of engines for home industry and 20 % of our products go to different countries of the world.

Our manufacturing plant has modern facilities to produce engines of different models. The engines of our company are relia­ble in operation and our customers are satisfied with their modern design and capacity. The company delivers engines to mar­kets of Europe, to the North and the South of America. We are also interested in selling our goods to the countries of the East, The company can guarantee shipment of the goods within10 days.

We do business with many foreign companies interested in buy­ing our engines. Our goods are in great demand because they are of high quality. When a representative of a foreign company gets instructions to buy engines from our company he arrives in Minsk and contacts our manager to make an appointment. Usual­ly our customers get in touch with our secretary on the phone and the manager invites them to come to his office.

Our manager and the representative of a foreign company who was instructed to sign a contract for buying the latest model of engines from our company have business talks held in friendly atmosphere. As it's not polite to go straight to business the man­ager starts with some remarks about the weather and asks his partner about his trip, the hotel he stays in, the impressions our city makes on the foreigner. The manager may also ask him about his family or his health and after that they get down to business. The negotiating parties discuss prices and terms of payment and delivery, packing and guarantee period. When the agreement" is reached on the business matters discussed the date of signing the contract is scheduled. We are punctual in business and never break the appointment. When the contract is signed we do our best not to make infringements in any of its clauses during the fulfillment of the contract. That's why our company enjoys high reputation and we have no claims on the part of our customers. We are always heavy with orders as many firms want to place orders with our company.

1. Answer the following questions to discuss the details of the text. Use the text for reference.

1. What kind of company is the text about?

2. What countries does the company do business with?

3. Are the goods of the company of high quality and in great demand?

4. Do many foreign firms want to place an order for engines with the company?

5. Does the manager of the company often have talks with represent­atives of foreign companies?

6. What problems are discussed during business talks?

7. Who takes part in business talks?

8. How do business talks usually start?

9. Are business talks held before or after signing a contract? Why?

10. Why does the company do its best to fulfil the contact without infringement of any of its clauses?

2. Read the text. Divide it into logical parts. Find or compose the topic sentences of each part. Make up a logical plan of the text. Retell the text.

3. Read the following short texts with the help of a dictionary. Make a list of new words and expressions while reading the texts.