Without Germany, Kingdom of Southern Germany would not be able to replicate the successful experience of East Africa without even being able to attract European immigrants, not to mention that other conditions of Southern Germany are much worse than those of East Africa.
Moreover, although Kingdom of Southern Germany has relatively abundant resources, its ability to develop and monetize them is also much poorer. East Africa was able to quickly accumulate initial development funds largely because Ernst knew the general distribution of many minerals in East Africa.
Therefore, the early mineral resource exploration in East Africa can be said to be a semi-open book examination. Within the general range delineated by Ernst, and then hiring professional mineral exploration personnel from Europe, it is easy to find some sizable mines, the most typical of which is the copper mine of Katanga Plateau.
As for Kingdom of Southern Germany specifically, Ernst was powerless in the past. After all, Ernst's previous work scope was concentrated in East and South Africa.
All in all, it is difficult for Kingdom of Southern Germany to replicate the successful experience of East Africa, and it is also difficult to get rid of the influence of East Africa.
Afterwards, Friedrich continued his reception work after exchanging a few words with Ludwig I.
There are only six countries and regions participating in the so-called international conference led by East Africa this time, namely Italy, Belgium, Spain, Kingdom of Southern Germany, Darfur region, and Abyssinian Empire.
Among them, Italy is mainly Red Sea colonies, Belgium is Congo Colony, and Spain is The Spanish Guinea and Darfur governments are puppet regimes supported by East Africa, and Kingdom of Southern Germany and Abyssinian Empire also have close relations with East Africa.
What these countries have in common 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 started.
It was still Crown Prince Friedrich who presided over the meeting, which allowed other participating countries to smell some political signals in East Africa, that is, Crown Prince Friedrich may now be like Austro-Hungarian Empire's Crown Prince Rudolf, beginning to have more and more contacts and carry out government affairs work.
Crown Prince Friedrich said, "This time East Africa has invited you all here. I think you should be clear about the general situation, which is to strengthen cooperation in the economic field between the east and the Southern Africa region, so as to establish 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 as the leader, there are only seven countries and regions.
However, these six countries and regions account for more than half of Africa, and the total population in Africa is close to 180 million.
And Friedrich said, "Judging from the current population development situation in our countries, in a few years Southeast African Common Market will be a world-class market with a population of more than 200 million, and the regional population may even exceed 300 million in the future."
"The reason why we in East Africa preside over the construction of 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, Belgian Congo and Abyssinian Empire are both important countries and regions in the region, but there is almost no economic and trade exchanges between them."
"In the common market, both parties can use this new platform to create intersections. Belgium's technology and funds can flow to the Abyssinian Empire, and Abyssinian Empire's minerals and agricultural products can also find new sales."
Previously, Belgian Congo, Kingdom of Southern Germany, Abyssinian Empire, Red Sea colonies, and the Darfur region supported by East Africa had basically no intersection.
Now that Southeast African Common Market is proposed, they can be integrated into a framework and stimulate inter-regional exchanges and development.
Why does East Africa 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 areas 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 will help stimulate the economic development of the northern region, where East African economy is the weakest.
Economic development first requires the flow of people and resources, and the above-mentioned countries and regions all border on northern East Africa.
Abyssinian Empire and Red Sea colonies are located in the eastern part of northern East Africa, Darfur is further north, while the other three countries and regions, namely Kingdom of Southern Germany, Belgian Congo, and Spanish Guinea, tend to the west.
If trade between them is strengthened, it will inevitably stimulate the economic development of northern East Africa, because northern East Africa is at the center of these countries and regions.
After all, commercial exchanges between them 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 road networks, especially the pan-Eastern and Southern Africa railway network we are implementing, this solves the problem of inconvenient transportation between countries."
"In this way, the land trade and communication channel between the Red Sea and Gulf of Guinea can be opened up, which greatly enhances the convenience of communication between Indian Ocean and Atlantic Ocean."
"It is conducive to countries to further expand their respective market scopes. For example, Kingdom of Southern Germany is located on the Gulf of Guinea coast of western Africa. This is conducive to exchanges with Atlantic Ocean countries, but with Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean Exchanges in coastal areas are not convenient, but after joining the common market, we can use our East African railways to transport goods to ports in eastern Africa through railways and roads, and then export them to more countries."
"The main function of the common market is to revitalize the market and make the pie bigger, thereby strengthening the competitiveness between our countries and other economies. This is particularly important in this era of increasingly fierce international competition."
During World War I, due to the interference of East Africa and United States and other extraterritorial countries, European continent and the overall world structure did not undergo fundamental changes. In other words, the cake of the global market was not redistributed because of the unprecedented war of World War I.
Therefore, the conflicts between countries have not disappeared, but have become more acute to a certain extent. However, the major European countries currently 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 a consequence, just like the system of electronic products cannot be updated in time, the functional operation of the product will be stuck, which is reflected in international business and trade, that is, countries stumbling upon each other, thus affecting the normal operation of the world market.
The specific manifestation is that after the war, the tariff barriers originally established by various countries were not broken down, but were further strengthened. International trade shrank and the global economy slumped.
In the past, European countries could alleviate these problems through colonial expansion, but at the end of the last century, the world was basically divided up, and this approach has obviously become somewhat outdated.
Of course, if you use war to seize other people's colonies and markets, this is a feasible plan, but World War I was the result of this plan. Under the trouble of extraterritorial countries, the two major European interest groups just engaged in a simple internal conflict. Only East Africa and United States, Japan, these non-European extraterritorial powers, took advantage.
This also caused the major European countries to hate United States and East Africa after the war.
European countries whose interests were damaged also implemented more extreme tariff policies after the war to delay the economic development of East Africa and United States as much as possible.
Of course, this is a decent way of saying it. A dishonorable way of saying it is to be wary of East Africa and United States further conquering the global market and protecting their remaining wealth.
In order to deal with the counterattack of European countries, East Africa and United States obviously cannot do nothing.
For example, Southeast African Common Market, which East Africa wants to promote, is to form cliques, expand and maintain its market share, and protect East African economy's transformation.
"Your Highness Friedrich, this so-called His Majesty Southeast African Common Market, will he be involved in East Africa's finger-pointing on the development of our countries or colonies?" Representative Italy mentioned somewhat ignorantly.
Italy itself is not very interested in this meeting. After all, anyone with a discerning eye knows that East Africa is doing this Southeast African Common Market. To put it bluntly, it is just to make money and attract people. However, if restrictions are completely relaxed, no country here can really compete with East Africa. In the end, they will all become the targets of East African exploitation and plunder.
In this case, the reason why Italy sent people to participate in this unwilling meeting is also very simple, that is, they are not strong enough to say "no" to East Africa.
This is just like the Caribbean Sea region today. United States is the emperor of the Caribbean Sea region. If United States is not given face, United States has many ways to make life worse than death for the countries in the region.
This is also the case when Italy faces East Africa. Red Sea colonies is the most important colony of Italy today, with a total population of millions, but this colony is under the nose of East Africa.
Therefore, Italy had to send government representatives to deal with East Africa. Regarding this, both Spain and Belgium were like this.
In the past, their worries were obviously not groundless. After all, from the late 19th century to the early 20th century, East Africa's consistent style of doing things was full of imperialist hegemony.
Since South African War, East Africa has also launched more than one war of aggression. In international affairs, especially issues involving self-interest, it also tends to threaten, intimidate and even use force to solve problems.
However, the wind direction in East Africa has changed now. In the field of economic development, Ernst believes that a domineering style is not conducive to the international image of East Africa in the future. Moreover, with the development of East African economy and industry, if you want to better integrate into the international market, you really need a better international image as a boost.
For example, the former Soviet Union basically became a disgusting existence in the late Cold War. Under the guidance of Western public opinion, many countries jointly resisted the evil empire of the Soviet Union, which also accelerated the disintegration of the Soviet Union.
Although the reason is definitely not that simple, judging from the performance of United States in the previous life of the 21st century, international public opinion and image have become elements that a country must pay attention to in its status and competition in the global landscape.
Therefore, Crown Prince Friedrich reassured. "Representative Italy, don't worry that we in East Africa will use this organization to make profits. Our starting point for establishing Southeast African Common Market, as I said before, is to strengthen the cooperative relationship between countries."
"And cooperation! This is naturally implemented on the basis of reciprocity in bilateral relations, so we in East Africa will definitely not let you suffer, but will actively help you in your development."
That being said, in the economic cooperation between East Africa and these countries, East Africa will inevitably be in a dominant position. After all, East Africa's economic size, industrial strength, and capital advantages are not comparable to those of these countries.
However, Friedrich will definitely not point this out, and other countries, as long as they are not brainless idiots, will not expose East Africa's wolf ambitions. For the countries participating in this meeting, their purpose has always been only one, and that is to strive for as many benefits as possible.
Crown Prince Friedrich said, "As far as the construction of Southeast African Common Market is concerned, it is basically for us all to unite together and leverage our respective strengths."
"For example, for some resources that you are unable to develop or products that cannot be sold, we in East Africa can provide funds, technology or channels to help you develop or market them."
"The ultimate result is that everyone can make money, and at the same time it stimulates the vitality of regional economic development and helps countries get rid of the current economic depression. Why not do it."
Next, East Africa also put forward its own specific construction opinions on how to build Southeast African Common Market.
Friedrich said, "The first is to lower or even eliminate regional tariff barriers and promote the free circulation of goods. In the same way, you can also use this platform to sell your advantageous products to more regions."
"Secondly, we in East Africa will take the lead and all countries will participate in establishing the Eastern and Southern Africa Development Bank to promote resource development and technological industrial cooperation in the region, help countries build their own advantageous industries, and enhance regional competitiveness."
The main function of the Development Bank of Eastern and Southern Africa is to provide loans to members of the organization, and East Africa can also increase Rheinland Shield's international status and liquidity through this financial institution, while strengthening East Africa's control of surrounding industries.
Other countries readily accept this. After all, judging from the current Eastern and Southern Africa regions, only East Africa has the ability to provide financial support to help them achieve regional development.
In most countries with relatively poor economic strength, economic development cannot be separated from the important financing method of borrowing money. In the Southeast African Common Market organization, except for East Africa and Belgium, the economic conditions of other countries and regions can be described in one word.
Belgium is a country with a good economy, but it is too small, 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 in the region to avoid duplication of construction and vicious competition, delineate the market share of similar products, achieve mutual sharing of resources, and coordinated industrial development."
Regarding this point, it is actually about solidifying the industries within Southeast African Common Market and clarifying the development direction of their respective key industries. There is no doubt that East Africa will have the advantage.
Of course, East Africa cannot be wiped clean. Since it is a cooperation, it is obvious that other members of the organization must be given a taste of the soup, such as the transfer of some low-end and heavily polluting industries that are not suitable for the development of East Africa.
Regarding this point, Friedrich also gave specific feasible cases. For example, Abyssinian Empire, like East Africa, is a high-quality coffee producing area. However, due to technology and production efficiency, it has long been competed and suppressed by the coffee planting industry in East Africa. East Africa can give up a certain market share and support the development of the Abyssinian Empire coffee planting industry.
East Africa will naturally not suffer a loss if it does this. With the rise of East African economic development, labor costs increase, and coffee planting, an industry that relies heavily on intensive labor, is increasingly unsuitable for the development of East Africa.
Therefore, transferring the coffee planting industry in East Africa to the Abyssinian Empire will not only solve the labor cost problem, but also will not leave East Africa's control due to the Abyssinian Empire's geographical location.
Secondly, part of the lowest-end planting industry has been transferred to the Abyssinian Empire, while other aspects, such as breeding, planting technology, chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and agricultural machinery, are definitely provided by East Africa. And the downstream industries, that is, processing and sales, are also controlled by East Africa. East Africa cannot suffer any loss.