#1397 - Regional Economic Cooperation Organization

Without Germany, and even unable to attract European immigrants, the Kingdom of South Germany would not be able to replicate East Africa's success, not to mention that South Germany's other conditions are much worse than East Africa's.

Moreover, although the Kingdom of South Germany is relatively rich in resources, its development and monetization capabilities are also much worse. The fact that East Africa was able to quickly accumulate initial development funds was largely due to Ernst knowing the general distribution of many of East Africa's mineral resources.

Therefore, the early mineral exploration in East Africa can be said to be a semi-open book exam. Within the general scope delineated by Ernst, and then hiring professional mineral exploration personnel from Europe, it was easy to find some sizable mines. The most typical example is the copper mine in the Katanga Plateau.

As for the Kingdom of South Germany, Ernst was powerless in the past, after all, Ernst's previous work scope was concentrated in East African and Southern African countries.

In short, the Kingdom of South Germany will hardly be able to replicate the success of East Africa, and it will also be difficult to get rid of East Africa's influence.

Afterwards, Friedrich exchanged a few pleasantries with Ludwig I and continued his reception work.

This time, there were only six countries and regions participating in the so-called international conference led by East Africa, namely Italy, Belgium, Spain, the Kingdom of South Germany, the Darfur region, and the Abyssinian Empire.

Among them, Italy mainly focused on the Red Sea colony, Belgium on the Congo colony, Spain on Spanish Guinea, the Darfur government was a puppet regime supported by East Africa, and the Kingdom of South Germany and the Abyssinian Empire also had close relations with East Africa.

The common point of these countries is that they are all located around East Africa, and the central topic of this so-called international conference is the establishment of the Southeast African Common Market organization.

At nine o'clock in the morning, the meeting officially began.

The meeting was still presided over by Crown Prince Friedrich, which made the participating countries smell some political signals from East Africa, that is, Crown Prince Friedrich may now be like Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria-Hungary, and is beginning to increasingly engage in political affairs.

Crown Prince Friedrich said: "This time, East Africa has invited everyone here, and I think you should be clear about the general situation, that is, to strengthen cooperation in the economic field in the eastern and southern African regions, so as to establish a Southeast African Common Market and achieve mutual exchange and common development between countries."

The so-called Southeast African Common Market is indeed a bit shabby in terms of the current participating countries and regions, after all, including East Africa, the leader, there are only seven countries and regions.

However, these six countries and regions account for more than half of Africa's area, and the total population in Africa is close to 180 million.

And Friedrich said: "Judging from the current population development of our countries, in a few years, the Southeast African Common Market will be a world-class market with a population of over 200 million, and the population in the region may even exceed 300 million in the future."

"The reason why we in East Africa are presiding over the construction of the Southeast African Common Market is to strengthen the economic ties between countries in the region, thereby driving the economic development of the entire region."

"For example, the Belgian Congo and the Abyssinian Empire are both important countries and regions in the region, but there is almost no economic and trade exchange between the two."

"And within the common market, both parties can use this new platform to create intersections, Belgian technology and capital can flow to the Abyssinian Empire, and the Abyssinian Empire's minerals and agricultural products can also find new sales channels."

Previously, the Belgian Congo, the Kingdom of South Germany, the Abyssinian Empire, the Italian Red Sea colony, and the Darfur region supported by East Africa basically had no intersection.

Now the proposal of the Southeast African Common Market can integrate them into a framework, stimulating exchanges and development between regions.

And why does East Africa want to do this? One is to facilitate East Africa's integration of resources in the region. These countries and regions are important neighbors of East Africa. To put it more bluntly, these regions are East Africa's backyard, so integrating this backyard is obviously very important for East Africa.

On the other hand, the construction of this common market is conducive to stimulating the economic development of East Africa's weakest northern region.

Economic development first requires the flow of people and resources, and the above-mentioned countries and regions are all adjacent to East Africa's north.

The Abyssinian Empire and the Red Sea colony are located in the eastern part of East Africa's north, Darfur is located further north, and the other three countries and regions, namely the Kingdom of South Germany, the Belgian Congo, and Spanish Guinea, tend towards the west.

If trade between them is strengthened, it will inevitably stimulate the economic development of northern East Africa, because northern East Africa is located in the center of these countries and regions.

After all, their commercial exchanges can only be realized through the land transportation system in northern East Africa.

Therefore, Friedrich said: "With the help of the Empire's railway and highway network, especially the Pan-Southeast African Railway Network that we are promoting, this solves the problem of inconvenient transportation between countries."

"In this way, it can open up the land trade and communication channel from the Red Sea to the Gulf of Guinea, greatly enhancing the convenience of communication between the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean."

"It is conducive to countries further expanding their market scope, such as the Kingdom of South Germany, which is located on the coast of the Gulf of Guinea in western Africa, which is conducive to exchanges with Atlantic countries, but communication with the Indian Ocean and Pacific coastal areas is not convenient, but after joining the common market, it can use our East African railways to transport goods to ports in eastern Africa via railways and highways, and then export them to more countries."

"The main role of the common market is to revitalize the market, make the pie bigger, thereby strengthening the competitiveness of our countries and other economies. This is especially important in this era of increasingly fierce international competition."

World War I, due to the interference of East Africa and the United States and other extraterritorial countries, did not lead to fundamental changes in the European continent and the overall world pattern. In other words, the cake of the global market was not redistributed due to the unprecedented war of World War I.

Therefore, the contradictions between countries have not disappeared, but have become more acute to a certain extent. It is just that the major European powers do not have the energy and ability to launch another world war, so they can only continue to maintain the operation of the old order.

And this has caused a consequence, just like the system of electronic products cannot be updated in time, the function of the product will be laggy. Reflected in international business and trade, it is that countries are tripping each other up, thereby affecting the normal operation of the world market.

Specifically, after the war, the tariff barriers originally established by various countries were not only not broken, but were further strengthened, international trade shrank, and the global economy was sluggish.

For example, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, which East Africa sought to establish, was aimed at forming alliances, expanding and maintaining its market share, and safeguarding East Africa's economic transformation.

“Your Highness Friedrich, within this so-called Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, will East Africa interfere in the development of our countries, or rather, our colonies?” the Italian representative asked somewhat tactlessly.

Italy itself wasn't very enthusiastic about this meeting. After all, anyone with eyes could see that East Africa's establishment of this Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa was, frankly, about raising money and forming cliques. However, if restrictions were completely lifted, which of the countries present could truly compete with East Africa? The ultimate outcome would be沦为being沦为 exploited and plundered by East Africa.

Given this, why did Italy send representatives to this unwilling meeting? The reason was simple: their strength was insufficient to say “no” to East Africa.

This was similar to the situation in the Caribbean, where the United States was the paramount power. If one didn't give face to the United States, it had many ways to make countries in the region wish they were dead.

Italy faced a similar situation with East Africa. The Red Sea colony was now Italy's most important colony, with a total population of several million. However, this colony was right under East Africa's nose.

Therefore, Italy had to send government representatives to deal with East Africa. Spain and Belgium were in similar situations.

In the past, their concerns wouldn't have been unfounded. After all, from the late 19th century to the early 20th century, East Africa's consistent style of doing things was full of imperialistic霸道domineering.

Since the South African War, East Africa had launched more than one war of aggression. In international affairs, especially those involving its own interests, it also tended to resort to threats, intimidation, and even force to resolve issues.

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However, East Africa's approach had changed. In the field of economic development, Ernst believed that a domineering style was not conducive to East Africa's international image in the future. Moreover, with the development of East Africa's economy and industry, a better international image was indeed needed as an aid to better integrate into the international market.

For example, the Soviet Union in its previous life, in the late Cold War, basically became a despised entity. Under the guidance of Western public opinion, many countries jointly resisted the evil empire of the Soviet Union, which accelerated the disintegration of the Soviet Union.

Although the reasons were certainly not that simple, judging from the performance of the United States in the 21st century of the previous life, international public opinion and image had become essential factors that a country must pay attention to in its position and competition in the global landscape.

Therefore, Crown Prince Friedrich reassured, “Italian representative, don't worry about East Africa using this organization for profit. The starting point for establishing the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, as I said before, is to strengthen cooperative relations between countries.”

“And cooperation! Naturally, this is implemented on the basis of equal bilateral relations. Therefore, we in East Africa will certainly not let everyone suffer losses, but will actively help everyone's development.”

That's what he said, but in economic cooperation between East Africa and these countries, East Africa would inevitably be in a dominant position. After all, East Africa's economic size, industrial strength, and capital advantages were incomparable to these countries.

However, Friedrich would certainly not point this out. And other countries, as long as they weren't brainless idiots, wouldn't expose East Africa's wolfish ambitions. For the countries participating in this conference, their only goal was to strive for as many benefits as possible.

Crown Prince Friedrich said, “In terms of the construction of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, the fundamental is that we unite together to leverage our respective strengths.”

“For example, for some resources that you were originally unable to develop, or commodities that you were unable to sell, we in East Africa can provide funds, technology, or channels to help you develop or promote them.”

“The ultimate result is that everyone benefits, while stimulating the vitality of regional economic development and helping countries get rid of the current economic depression. Why not do it?”

Next, East Africa put forward its specific construction opinions on how to build the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa.

Friedrich said, “First, it is to reduce or even eliminate regional tariff barriers to promote the free flow of goods. By the same token, you can also use this platform to sell your advantageous commodities to more regions.”

“Secondly, under the leadership of East Africa and with the participation of various countries, we will establish the Eastern and Southern African Development Bank to promote regional resource development, technological and industrial cooperation, and help countries build their own advantageous industries and enhance regional competitiveness.”

The main function of the Eastern and Southern African Development Bank is to provide loans to member organizations. East Africa can also use this financial institution to increase the international status and liquidity of the Rhein Mark, while strengthening East Africa's industrial control over the surrounding areas.

Other countries gladly accepted this. After all, from the current perspective of the Eastern and Southern African region, only East Africa has the ability to provide financial support to help them achieve regional development.

Most countries with relatively poor economic strength cannot develop economically without borrowing money as an important means of raising funds. In the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa organization, except for East Africa and Belgium, the economic situation of other countries and regions can only be described as indescribable.

Belgium is considered an economically sound country, but it is too small and has neither the ability nor the courage to compete with East Africa on this issue.

Friedrich continued, “Furthermore, it is to integrate and optimize the industrial structure within the region to avoid duplicate construction and vicious competition, and to delineate the market share of similar commodities, so as to achieve resource sharing and coordinated industrial development.”

Regarding this point, in fact, it is to solidify the industries within the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa and clarify the development direction of each key industry. There is no doubt that East Africa will occupy an advantage.

Of course, East Africa cannot take everything for itself. Since it is cooperation, it is obviously necessary to let other members of the organization drink some soup. For example, transferring some low-end and heavily polluting industries that are not suitable for East Africa's development.

Regarding this point, Friedrich also gave specific and feasible examples. For example, the Abyssinian Empire, like East Africa, is a high-quality coffee-producing area, but in the past, due to technical and production efficiency reasons, it has long been subject to competition and suppression from East Africa's coffee planting industry. East Africa can give up a certain market share to support the development of the Abyssinian Empire's coffee planting industry.

East Africa will naturally not suffer losses by doing so. With the economic development of East Africa and the increase in labor costs, the coffee planting industry, which heavily relies on intensive labor, is becoming increasingly unsuitable for East Africa's development.

Therefore, East Africa's transfer of the coffee planting industry to the Abyssinian Empire can not only solve the problem of labor costs, but also, due to the Abyssinian Empire's geographical location, it will not escape East Africa's control.

Secondly, some of the most low-end planting industries are transferred to the Abyssinian Empire, while other aspects, such as breeding, planting technology, fertilizers, pesticides, and agricultural machinery, are certainly provided by East Africa, and the downstream industries, that is, processing and sales, are also controlled by East Africa. No matter how East Africa calculates, it is impossible to suffer losses.