Chapter 1638 Industrial and Agricultural Support
From this point of view, Joseph was undoubtedly a qualified "Tsar". He did not mind sacrificing the interests of other countries in order to consolidate the Soviet Union's own interests.
One of Consul General Blainey's tasks was to balance the Soviet Union in the Western Regions. Of course, with East Africa's presence in the Western Regions, it was impossible for the local government to cut off ties with the Soviet Union.
If it were in places like Afghanistan and Persia, East Africa could still come into conflict with the Soviet Union, but in the northwest of the Far Eastern Empire, East Africa itself has a low sense of presence and no long-term and stable representative of its interests.
Ultimately, it is transportation that restricts East Africa's entry into this region. East Africa once thought about establishing land transportation with the Western Regions, but it could not get over the Soviet Union's barrier.
Except for the Wakhan Corridor, the Western Region's foreign trade routes are basically controlled by the Soviets. The Soviet Union has a considerable influence in the Wakhan Corridor, and the conditions may be harsh, so even investing in it is doomed to be a losing business.
Even without the Soviet Union, the possibility of East Africa using the Wakhan Corridor would be extremely low, because the corridor was also valued by the British.
Consul General Blaney said: "There is no direct land connection between East Africa and the Western Regions, so trade between the two sides can only be maintained by air shipping, and the scale of air transportation is very limited."
"So relying on air transport to promote the prosperity of the entire Western Region's commerce is simply unrealistic."
"So if you want your economy to develop, you still have to rely on your own hard work. On this basis, we in East Africa can provide financial, technical and personnel support."
The Western Region Provincial Government naturally regretted that it could not obtain military support from Consul General Blainey in East Africa, but economic cooperation was obviously a good option for the Western Region Provincial Government.
Representative Wang from the Western Region Government asked Consul General Blaney, "Consul General Blaney, how do you think the two sides should cooperate in the economic field?"
As a local government in a semi-separatist state, the Western Region Province is obviously not very good at building a modern economy. In the past, some modern elements of the Western Region were basically brought by the British and the Soviets, but the two countries also brought various additional conditions and did not put the Western Region and the Far Eastern Empire behind it on an equal footing.
Consul General Blaney said: "Regarding economic cooperation, we in East Africa also have a general idea. Currently, there are two trading ports between East Africa and the Western Region Province, namely Dihua and Shule."
“So we can start some new industries with these two areas as the core.”
"Especially in industries that are easy to start, such as textiles, food processing, and metal processing, the Western Regions Province already has a certain foundation. If you combine them with more advanced production technologies and equipment, it can greatly improve your economic situation."
"Take Shule as an example. Shule is one of the textile centers of the Western Region Province, but your textile industry is still stuck in traditional handmade production rather than industrialized production."
"This has resulted in Shule's goods, such as homespun cloth and carpets, becoming uncompetitive."
"If you can listen to our advice and carry out some modernization in these areas to improve production efficiency, it will definitely be of great benefit to the economy of the Western Region Province."
"Not to mention exports to economically developed regions, our competitiveness is still quite good in the markets of Central Asia, the Soviet Union and the Far East."
That’s right, the textile products of the Western Regions Province could be exported to the Soviet Union, a country that was about to complete industrialization. Among them, the carpets of the Western Regions Province were sold well in many areas of the Soviet Union. However, the carpets of the Western Regions Province were basically produced in the form of handicraft workshops, and the efficiency was extremely low.
"We can provide you with technical support and low-interest loans," Blaine said. "However, the funds we provide must be overseen by our staff to ensure that every penny is used effectively."
"At the same time, during the early stages of factory construction, our technicians and managers must have absolute say. Only after your personnel have learned and mastered the relevant processes can we end the trusteeship in East Africa."
Here, Consul General Blainey was obviously wary of the Western Region Provincial Government. After all, funds used for economic development, if not supervised, could be abused, such as being misappropriated to expand military armaments, or simply embezzled into personal pockets.
"At the same time, we also need your cooperation in finding the raw materials for the development of the textile industry, especially the promotion and cultivation of cash crops like cotton, the supply of wool, and energy sources like coal and electricity."
"In terms of cotton cultivation, the Western Region Province has unique conditions, and we in East Africa also have extremely rich and mature experience in cotton cultivation in desert areas."
"Desert areas in East Africa, such as Gezira and some northern provinces, are important cotton-growing bases."
"So we can provide you with all the necessary supplies needed for cotton cultivation, such as cotton varieties, planting equipment, pesticides, etc."
"What you need to do is repair local water conservancy facilities, open up farmland and so on."
"As for the energy needed for the development of the textile industry, Western Province itself has abundant coal resources, so it can be directly used as a source of power to drive machinery and equipment."
"However, we can also help you build coal-fired power plants to power the textile industry. Moreover, the construction of power facilities can also drive the development of other industries, such as providing electricity to cities or other factories and workshops."
"So from a long-term perspective, we are more supportive of your building coal-fired power plants."
"In East Africa, steam engines have been largely phased out in the industrial sector. Except for a few sectors, most factories use electricity as their power source. As early as the beginning of this century, the textile industry in East Africa had already completed its electrification transformation."
The reason why Blainey mentioned two plans here is based on the actual situation of the Western Region Province. It is true that building a power plant is definitely better, but it requires the Western Region Province to invest more.
For example, coal mining, transportation, and investment and construction of power plants, each step is not easy for the Western Region Province, where industry and transportation are extremely backward.
Representative Wang said with difficulty, "I will report this matter to the province after I go back, and then make a final decision."
Blaney said, "I recommend you choose the second option. Although the price you pay is higher, it will be more beneficial to you in the long run, so it's better to get things done right the first time."
"Moreover, by choosing the second option, the subsequent implementation in industries such as metal processing and food processing can also proceed smoothly."
"The metal processing plant can also help you save on military expenses. For example, for the repair and replacement of some firearm parts, you can reduce your costs by producing some parts yourself."
"Of course, the more important thing is metal processing, which can directly drive more local employment. After all, Western Province is relatively rich in mineral resources. Compared to directly selling the ore, the profit from preliminary processing of the minerals is also higher."
"Food processing, mainly flour mills, which is now the staple food in the Western Regions."
There is currently only one small flour mill in the Western Region Province, which was built in 1935. Therefore, an inconspicuous flour processing actually has a relatively considerable market in the Western Region Province.
This also reflects the backwardness of the Western Region Province today. To put it bluntly, the industry of any city in East Africa is much stronger than that of the entire Western Region Province. Even some of the stronger towns in East Africa may have higher industrial capacity than that of the Western Region Province.
Therefore, if these "insignificant" industries mentioned by Blainey can be implemented, they will greatly promote the Western Region Province itself. In layman's terms, the foundation of the Western Region Province is too weak, so it is easy to achieve results.
Blaney said, "We can first use Dihua and Shule as demonstration areas. If the economies of these two areas develop well, you can replicate their experience elsewhere and drive the development of the entire Western Region Province."
"Especially in the light industry sector, you have a huge advantage. If you can operate well, you will never lack a market."
"Because the industrial level of Central Asia itself is very low around the entire region, and although the Soviet Union is relatively strong in industry, their light industry is not good enough. And the eastern part of your country also has a larger market."
This is also East Africa's current plan for the development of the economic industry in the Western Region Province, focusing on agriculture and light industry.
Consul General Blaine said, "The situation in the Far East is self-evident. Food and some light industrial products have a huge market in your country because war could break out at any time. At that time, the normal production order of the Far Eastern Empire will also be disrupted due to the war."
"The Western Region Province is relatively safe. Your only security threat now is extremist nationalism and religious terrorists supported by foreign forces."
"Although the Soviet Union poses a threat, they are also preoccupied with their own affairs and are unlikely to make any major moves in the Far East."
There is no doubt that economic development requires a stable environment, and this will be one of the most favorable conditions for the future development of the Western Region Province compared to other regions within the Far East Empire.
Even Guanzhong and Sichuan and Chongqing, which are known as the strategic rear, cannot be safer than the Western Regions Province. After all, the cities in the above two places may also be threatened by Japan's air force in the future.
As for the Soviet Union, they are now directly facing the behemoth of the German camp, so they have no energy to pay attention to other regions outside of Europe. This is also the main reason why they have adopted a compromising defense in the Far East in recent years.
If it were not for the threat from the German camp, East Africa would not have been able to enter the Western Regions so smoothly and establish stable cooperation with the Western Regions provincial government. After all, the Western Regions province was already half of the Soviet Union's sphere of influence, and the Western Regions province was extremely dependent on the Soviet Union in various fields such as military, politics and economy.
Similarly, the Soviet Union's diplomacy towards Japan was essentially a policy of concession.
To sum up, it is basically impossible for the Western Region Province to encounter a major external war threat now. The only forces that have an impact on the security and stability of the Western Region are extreme nationalism and religious forces.
These two forces are also thorns in the eyes and flesh of East Africa. After all, East Africa's attitude towards Arabism in its world strategy has always been consistent, which is to reduce its living space.
As mentioned before, if the environment in Gwadar were not so harsh, Ernst would have wanted to build a non-Arab country in Gwadar.
Consul General Blaney told Representative Wang, "We in East Africa are not interested in the politics of the Western Regions Province. However, I believe we both agree on one point: the threat posed by extreme nationalism and religious forces. This is a threat that the entire world must face together."
"To be honest, we in East Africa even believe that this religion is more harmful than the Soviet Union. It is also a destabilizing factor for your country."
"This is one of the reasons why we chose to cooperate with you instead of the neighboring Eastern Province. The three of them have been designated as 'terrorist organizations' in East Africa."
Cracking down on Arabism is actually the political correctness in East Africa. After all, in Ernst's view, if we want to calculate the future, the external forces that are most likely to pose the greatest threat to East Africa are these Arab countries and regions.
Given the size and industrial strength of East African countries today, there is no country that can defeat East Africa head-on, so East Africa is not afraid of war. Instead, Ernst must now consider the problems of refugees and illegal immigrants in his previous life.
East Africa, except for South America and Australia, is basically surrounded by Arab countries and regions, including present-day India, which also has many Arabs.
Therefore, in order to solve the immigration problem after the population growth in East Africa slows down, Ernst must continuously establish a breeding pool of non-Arab populations in countries and regions along the Indian Ocean coast and in Africa, thereby compressing the living space of Arabs.
East African officials are also quite convinced of this point. After all, the world's demographic data will not lie, especially European countries such as France, Britain, and Germany, which have provided East Africa with sufficient data. That is, when a country's economic development reaches a certain stage, it will inevitably lead to a slowdown in population growth, or even negative growth.
Of course, officials of Blaine's rank were unaware of this; he simply disliked and was hostile towards this group, much like in other Western countries today, which can be seen as a continuation of hatred between two religions.
Representative Wang did not fully understand Consul General Blainey's train of thought, but he also agreed with this statement, especially when the neighboring Western Region Province was in a competitive relationship with them.
He said: "We in the Western Regions Province must persist in combating extreme nationalism and religious elements, but the situation in the Western Regions Province is complex, and it is not easy to completely resolve these issues."
The area that the Western Region Provincial Government can manage is very limited. After all, the entire Western Region Province is too large and transportation is inconvenient. There are always corners and edges that the Western Region Provincial Government cannot manage.
Consul General Blainey had no good suggestions on this, so he changed the topic back to economic development.
This conversation also became an important opportunity for the development of the Western Regions Province in the next few years. In the following years, East Africa's investment in the Western Regions Province continued to increase, and many industries and East African personnel settled in the Western Regions to support local industrial and agricultural development.
And with the full completion of Gwadar Airport, East Africa's local ports have become more prosperous, especially East African high-end products, which are very popular in the Western Regions Province.
Here, the only competitor for East African products is the Soviet Union. However, the products produced under the Soviet Union's light industry and economic system are obviously difficult to compete with East Africa. They can only occupy the low-end market, and even have difficulty competing with the national industry of the Western Region Province.
(End of this chapter)
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