Chapter 981 Shortcut
For example, in the Far Eastern Empire, it is difficult for East African goods to squeeze into the commercial areas of Britain and France. After all, countries such as Britain, France, and even the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain have been operating in the Far East for much longer than East Africa, and have built a stable network of contacts. Have many regular partners.
The success of the Huaihai Economic Zone in East Africa was mainly due to the poor local consumption capacity. Not to mention the per capita purchasing power earlier, when East Africa entered the Far East market, the local population was not large due to wars and famines.
This is also the reason why East Africa can easily build a northern trade system with Jiaozhou as the center, because other countries also look down upon it. Of course, with more than 30 years of joint efforts between the local area and East Africa, the Huaihai Economic Zone is no longer the largest in the Far East. Poor and backward areas.
But this is what the East African government deserves. After all, East Africa invested a lot of energy and financial resources locally, which enabled East Africa to occupy a place in the trade of the Far Eastern Empire and keep pace with the United States, Britain, and France.
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“The economic development of the western region cannot be separated from the support of trade. Among the countries along the Atlantic coast, there are developed countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States, and France, as well as underdeveloped countries such as Spain, Portugal, and Argentina, as well as backward countries such as Brazil. , but it is also a large country that cannot be ignored.”
“Among these countries, we should focus on developing industrially underdeveloped markets such as Spain, Brazil, and Argentina for low- and medium-end industrial products.”
Spain is a very important country for East Africa. It is the hub from the west coast of East Africa to the Mediterranean. After all, Portugal and the United Kingdom (Gibraltar Colony) both have poor relations with East Africa.
The eastern Suez Canal is under British control, and there are British colonies near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. In this case, if Britain cuts off the eastern route between East Africa and the Mediterranean, Spain's importance will be further enhanced.
Of course, this possibility is almost zero, unless Britain is determined to lose its global hegemony and East Africa will lose both sides.
But as long as there is a possibility, the East African government must take this into consideration. Therefore, Spain has always been a target worthy of wooing for East Africa. Its geographical location is related to the strategic security issues of East African commercial trade.
At the same time, Spain’s economic development level is relatively poor compared to other European countries, especially in the industrial field. Both Spain and Portugal have missed opportunities due to historical reasons, which also means that East Africa can have more opportunities.
In the same way, the birth of East Africa is also a new choice for Spain. After all, Spain competes and cooperates with Britain, France and other countries in the region. After the Spanish-American War, Spain's relations with the United States have deteriorated. In this case, it would be advantageous for East Africa to displace American interests in Spain.
Argentina is a high-quality market. With various advantages, the purchasing power of Argentines ranks first among South American countries, even exceeding the average level of Europe and the United States. The most important thing is that Argentina's domestic industry is very backward and many industrial products cannot be self-sufficient.
So in the early 20th century, Argentina was just like the oil-rich countries in the Middle East in previous generations. East Africa could not ignore this high-quality trade object. Moreover, Argentina was located on the South Atlantic route, and transportation between East Africa and Argentina was relatively convenient.
It goes without saying much about Brazil. Although Brazil is a mess now, East Africa does not expect to make big money from Brazil. Brazil’s positioning in East Africa means that the supply of raw materials is greater than its existing market.
“The United States and Western Europe are the main destinations for agriculture in western my country. With the Tunis Strait as the boundary, the Mediterranean Sea is divided into two parts. This is the important geographical dividing line for trade between my country’s east and west coasts and Europe.”
To the east of the Tunis Strait is the Eastern Mediterranean, and to the west is the Western Mediterranean. In the past, Central and Eastern Europe and the Middle East were East Africa's most important markets in the world in East Africa's trade with Europe. Once the West Coast economy develops, it will be helpful for East Africa to develop trade with Western Europe and Northern Europe through the Atlantic route.
The most important thing is that this trade route will hardly be threatened. There are no easy-to-clamp terrains along the route such as the Suez Canal, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, and the Strait of Malacca.
For example, the trade between East Africa and France used to be basically realized through the Red Sea route. Now from the west coast of East Africa to France, it only needs to pass through the Atlantic Ocean.
The same applies to the Nordic countries. In the past, maritime trade between East Africa and Nordic countries required passing through the Strait of Mandeb, the Suez Canal, the Strait of Tunis, the Strait of Gibraltar, and the English Channel. Now it only needs to pass through the English Channel through the Atlantic route.
In short, the west coast of East Africa, especially the coast of Angola, has opened up the second line of maritime trade in East Africa, which is of strategic significance to the national economy of East Africa, especially the industry.
The area that East Africa's commercial trade can radiate basically covers most of the world's regions, and the obstacles to direct trade around the world are greatly reduced.
The only channel that can block maritime trade between East Africa and the world's major economic zones is the Strait of Malacca. However, East Africa can also bypass the Strait of Malacca. After all, the main body of East Africa is in the southern hemisphere. Compared with the location of East Africa, the Strait of Malacca does not have inter-continental trade. That's important.
East Africa can directly pass through the East Indies, and the route to Australia goes north. In the British colonial system, Australia currently does not have the ability to block waterways like India. At least it cannot block a big country like East Africa, let alone blockade East Africa. , maybe East Africa can take the opportunity to get the British out of Australia forever.
The East Indies are mainly controlled by the Dutch, and it is impossible for them to do such a thankless thing.
Sweet continued: "If the Atlantic Economic Zone can reach half the size of the Indian Ocean Economic Zone, the increase in the scale of our national economy will be very considerable, and it will grow into a new pillar of economic growth in East Africa."
The Indian Ocean Economic Zone mainly covers East Africa, Europe, Asia, and Oceania, accounting for more than 80% of East Africa's foreign trade.
In addition to East Africa, the Atlantic Economic Zone can also connect to West Africa, Europe, South America and North America, and is no less important than the Indian Ocean Economic Zone.
Its only shortcoming is that the available ports and coastlines are less than those in the east. However, according to the economic zone it is connected to, if the west coast of East Africa can develop, without affecting the foreign trade of the east, East Africa's foreign trade should be able to increase by at least 10%. Thirty level.
This is too attractive to East Africa, which is the fundamental reason why East Africa wants to acquire Angola at all costs.
The advantages of two-ocean countries are reflected in this. For example, the United States' trade mainly connects the Atlantic with Europe, and the Pacific with the Far East. The same is true for East Africa.
Hence, building the west coast's industry and economy is the easiest to achieve and has the highest success rate. It also plays an important role in East Africa's trade security. The west coast relies on the raw materials and markets of the countries along the Atlantic coast for development. This is a shortcut to improve the industrialization of East Africa in a short period of time.
(End of this chapter)