Capital always chased profit. Once Bosnia and Herzegovina's heavy industry plan was announced, the preferential policies alone drew a sudden surge of people to inspect the area.
As for whether they would actually invest, that had to wait until the results were in. Under normal circumstances, companies only made up their minds to invest after acquiring the mines.
In this era, importing ore from overseas was virtually unheard of. Austria's colonies might possess abundant mineral resources, but the cost of extracting them and shipping them back was enough to bankrupt any company.
Aside from minerals unavailable domestically, ore was rarely imported in this era. Most industrial raw materials for Europe's major industrial powers were supplied locally, with colonies serving only as a supplement.
Franz believed capitalists were all shrewd enough to sort these matters out themselves. Those lacking the brains for it had, for the most part, already gone under.
His attention was now focused on the African theater. After the British sent troops into Tunisia, the French swiftly followed suit.
The Anglo-French struggle over the Strait of Tunisia grew increasingly fierce. As for the Tunisian Government, it could be ignored. With two creditors coming to collect at their door, all they could do was bury their heads in the sand.
The Franco-Austrian rivalry with the British in the Red Sea also intensified. The successful opening of the Suez Canal had exceeded British expectations, and France and Austria had joined forces to squeeze them out of Egypt.
The French army now occupied most of Egypt, while Austrian Libya had pushed its border forward by several kilometers. Even Franz was unclear on exactly how much territory had been occupied.
In any case, it would only count after the Egyptian Government surrendered and France and Austria concluded negotiations. Egypt had been assigned