Robert was a merchant from Paraguay, and his purpose in coming to Letania Province this time was to inspect a batch of obsolete industrial equipment. Masud was the intermediary and translator he had hired.
The two talked as they walked out of the station.
Masud said to Robert, "Mr. Robert, I believe you have already gained a preliminary understanding of the Empire's current economic development."
Robert nodded. "That is indeed the case, Mr. Masud. You East Africans often say that hearing of something is not as good as seeing it for oneself. From what I saw today, that truly is the case."
"Taking Port of Alexandria as an example, East Africa is at least thirty years ahead of us in Paraguay. However, I do not know what the other cities of East Africa are like, so I would also like to stay in East Africa a while longer and look for business opportunities."
Robert and Masud had set out from Paraguay and arrived in East Africa aboard an East African passenger liner.
There were regular passenger liner routes between Paraguay and East Africa. At the beginning of the twentieth century, when aviation was still underdeveloped, ships were the best means of transportation between countries separated by oceans.
Meanwhile, as trade and exchanges between East Africa and the South American Countries had grown increasingly frequent in recent years, ocean shipping had also developed with tremendous vigor.
Some shipping companies began in Cabinda City, East Africa, followed the Equatorial Warm Current of the South Atlantic to Brazil, then headed south along the Brazil Current, passing through the ports of Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, Argentina, Chile, and other countries. Finally, they followed the West Wind Drift eastward back around the African coastline, where they split off at Cape Town in South Africa to take