Over the past two years, I have visited Coohom Technology several times.
Not because we had a project that had to be closed.
Not because every visit was expected to produce a transaction.
Sometimes, we simply wanted to understand each other a little better.
And that is precisely why I think the story is worth recording.
The First Visit Is Usually About Understanding
"I have seen many companies that fade after a single visit. Coohom Technology is different — every time we walked in, we saw a company that was not quite the same as last time."
— Bruce Dong, Secretary-General & COO, WTC SingaporeMy first interactions with Coohom Technology were driven by a simple question:
How does a Chinese technology company build a genuinely international business?
Coohom Technology is based in Hangzhou, one of the cities at the forefront of China's technology and digital economy.
But what interested me was not simply its technology or its growth story.
It was the question of how a company with roots in China thinks about customers, products, teams and business development across different markets.
When we visited the company, the conversations naturally moved beyond presentations.
We talked about international markets, local customers, product experience, overseas teams and the practical challenges of entering Southeast Asia.
The more I listened, the more I realized that "going global" means something very different from simply selling a product overseas.
The real question is whether a company can gradually learn how to operate inside another market.
Then We Went Back Again
One visit is easy.
Returning several times is different.
Over the past two years, we organized and participated in several exchanges and study visits involving Coohom Technology.
Each time, the context was slightly different.
Sometimes we focused on the company itself.
Sometimes we discussed Southeast Asia.
Sometimes the conversation was about how Chinese technology companies can build local capabilities and understand local customers.
There was also a visit to Coohom Technology's global headquarters in Hangzhou, where we continued the conversation in a different setting.
What I found interesting was that the relationship did not depend on having a specific transaction attached to every meeting.
The relationship itself became valuable.
That is something I have come to appreciate more as I have spent more time working with companies expanding internationally.
A business relationship does not always begin with a project.
Sometimes it begins with curiosity.
Then comes understanding.
Then trust.
And only after that does it become possible to discover what might actually be done together.
"Going Out" Is Not the Same as "Going In"
One idea came up repeatedly in our conversations around Chinese companies expanding into Southeast Asia:
Going out is relatively easy to describe. Going in is much harder.
A company can establish an overseas entity.
It can hire local employees.
It can begin selling to customers abroad.
But genuine localization requires something deeper.
It means understanding how customers make decisions.
Understanding local culture.
Understanding the business environment.
Understanding the people you need to work with.
And sometimes, even reconsidering how a product should be presented and experienced in a particular market.
That is why I believe internationalization is not simply a geographic expansion.
In many ways, it is the process of learning how to build a business again in a different environment.
Coohom Technology has given us an opportunity to observe that process through repeated, practical conversations rather than through a single formal visit.
Why Keep Coming Back?
There is a simple reason.
Because good relationships become more useful with time.
The first conversation gives you an introduction.
The second gives you context.
The third often gives you trust.
And after enough conversations, you no longer need to spend the first half of every meeting explaining who you are.
You can start with the real question.
For an international business network, I think this matters enormously.
The value of WTC Singapore is not simply that we can introduce a company to Singapore.
The greater value is what can happen after that introduction.
Who should the company meet?
Which local market might make sense?
Who has experience there?
Who can provide a useful perspective?
And if the first conversation does not immediately lead anywhere, who will still be there six months or a year later?
That continuity is part of the value of a trusted network.
From a Visit to a Relationship
This is also why I see Coohom Technology as a natural part of the WTC One Club story.
After several rounds of exchange, that same business unit head from Coohom Technology has also become a familiar face within WTC One Club.
WTC One Club is not designed around the idea that every event must generate an immediate deal.
It is built around something more fundamental:
bringing the right people into the same network and giving relationships enough time to develop.
Over the past two years, we have returned to Coohom Technology several times.
We have seen the company in different settings, continued conversations with its team, and explored different questions around international business.
Some things may eventually become opportunities.
Some may simply remain valuable conversations.
Both are worthwhile.
Because international business is rarely built through one perfect meeting.
It is built through repeated contact, shared understanding and trust accumulated over time.
And sometimes, the most meaningful signal is simply this:
you keep finding reasons to meet again.
That is what I value about the relationship with Coohom Technology.
And that is also what I believe WTC One Club should create more of:
not one meeting, not one introduction, and not one transaction — but a network in which the right relationships have the time and space to become meaningful.
