Ernst said, "Light industry has begun to receive attention at our country's current stage of development, but industrialization is a complex and vast undertaking."
"For more than thirty years, East Africa's development has focused on agriculture, infrastructure, and heavy industry. Even once the First Five-Year Plan is completed, East Africa's light-industry problems cannot possibly be resolved. Therefore, during the Second Five-Year Plan, developing light industry will become one of the government's key priorities."
Although East Africa had unquestionably become a world power in terms of sheer scale, among the great powers its level of development was only slightly stronger than Japan and Russia. In terms of capital, technology, and accumulated foundations, it still lagged far behind those relatively developed countries.
East Africa's advantages as a colonial nation somewhat eased this shortcoming. For instance, in per-capita agricultural-product consumption, East Africa far surpassed Russia and Japan. Yet because of insufficient productive capacity, and because it had not reached the level of the United States, it could only barely stand on par with many European countries. Otherwise, given East Africa's territory, arable land, and resource endowment, it should have surpassed most European nations.
After all, East Africa's population had not yet exceeded one hundred million, while Europe had more than three hundred million people. At the same time, the East African mainland's total area exceeded Europe's by more than two million square kilometers.
"If the Russo-Japanese War breaks out now, it will be a favorable opportunity for East Africa, chiefly for expanding the Russian market. Setting aside colonies, Russia has the world's second-largest population and the world's largest territory, while its industrial and agricultural development stands above the global average."
"Russia has always been one of our country's important markets, but the market we face there is also highly competitive. Western European and