Chapter 301： Austrian Business Mission

Chapter 301 Austrian business delegation

Evacuating Venice is definitely not an option. The move is too big. Ernst will not agree, nor will the Austro-Hungarian Empire. What East Africa is doing is to move the jobs of the Venetian workers who migrated to East Africa to East Africa.

In fact, a large number of Venetians have gone to East Africa to participate in the great cause of land reclamation, so the industry needed in Nairobi is not huge, but it needs to be professional.

At the same time, Ernst's original purpose was to turn Venice into Austrian territory, avoiding the possibility of it becoming a landlocked country in the future, rather than forcing the remaining Venetians to oppose Austria's pursuit of autonomy and independence.

Germany has become an inland area, and East Africa is not worried, because most of Germany's sea outlets are concentrated in the Baltic Sea. Britain and France clamp Germany to East Africa. First, it can block the German navy in the Baltic Sea. It goes around the west coast of Africa, which is a long way.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire mainly relies on the Suez Canal to reach East Africa. Although there is a risk of being cut off, both the Austro-Hungarian Empire and East Africa have the ability to countermeasures. Moreover, the Suez Canal is related to most countries and regions along the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. To maintain the smooth flow and safety of the Suez Canal is not the sole responsibility of East Africa.

…

Mombasa.

Today's Mombasa is extremely lively. The welcome ceremony held by the city hall was held at the pier. Many government officials, including East African Finance Minister von der Leyen, also participated in the welcome ceremony.

A ship flying the flag of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was moored at the pier, and it was the Austrian business delegation that disembarked from the ship.

Von der Leyen stepped forward and said: "Welcome to East Africa, everyone! I am the Minister of Finance of East Africa, Von der Leyen."

"Hello, Minister Von der Leyen! I am the head of the Austrian business delegation, Wolfgang."

As Wolfgang spoke, he looked at the environment of Mombasa. The first impression he gave people was that it was uniform, or dull and featureless. There was no garbage or sewage on the streets, and the city seemed relatively empty. The main reason was that The roads are relatively wide and the houses are not concentrated.

Seeing Wolfgang looking around, von der Leyen said: "Mr. Wolfgang, what is your first impression of Mombasa? If you have any questions, I can answer them."

Wolfgang: "Mombasa is quite good. I have imagined the scene of East Africa countless times before I came here, but just Mombasa in front of me is beyond my expectation."

Von der Leyen: "Mombasa is almost a city that was torn down and rebuilt. We are committed to bringing German culture to Africa, so you are welcome in East Africa, and it is almost the same as returning to your own home."

The Austrian business delegation agrees with this point. Everyone is German, so it is naturally very useful.

Wolfgang: "Minister von der Leyen, although Mombasa looks good, why are your roads so wide and the distance between buildings so far away that it looks empty? Will this cause great damage? waste?"

Wolfgang has been to many places in Europe. At present, in many European cities, the roads are generally relatively narrow, the flow of people is large, and the housing construction also pays attention to a utilization rate. In his opinion, the construction of Mombasa is a bit too extravagant.

Von der Leyen: "On the one hand, it is because East Africa has a vast land and sparse population, and land resources are not very scarce; on the other hand, East African cities pay more attention to the living environment. You can see that although the buildings are scattered, they are also rich in green plants. According to our East African In other words, this is called a garden city, and at the same time, it is convenient to match the supporting facilities of the city, such as the drainage system and the reserved space for running water pipes, street lights, warning signs, etc. Mombasa's temporary economic capacity is limited, so the relevant facilities are not perfect, but we refer to other The advantage of the city is to reserve enough space for the future development of Mombasa. As for the relatively wide road, pedestrians and goods on the street are in order according to the traffic rules of walking on the right, so the traffic efficiency is also very good, and there must be a surplus at present , but the population of Mombasa will increase in the future, so there is no need to re-plan.”

Wolfgang believed three points in von der Leyen's explanation, which at least shows that the East African government has a far-sighted view, but he chose not to give the remaining seven points, because the current European cities are not up to what von der Leyen said to a certain extent, so East Africa is even further behind. This is a huge waste of administration, flashy.

Wolfgang said: "Although what you said makes sense, the population in East Africa is not large. How many years are you going to realize that this city will become what you said, thirty years, forty years or even longer."

Von der Leyen: "Currently, the population of Mombasa has reached 60,000 people, second only to Dar es Salaam. You must know that we Germans have opened up this city for just over three years. This is the effect after expelling the local Zanzibaris, which means that we can make Mombasa and other cities on par with Europe in terms of population just by relying on immigrants, so the future development of Mombasa must be very promising.”

Sixty thousand people are not many for this city, but now it is 1870, the population of Berlin is only seven or eight hundred thousand, while Vienna is about five or six hundred thousand.

Of course, the situation of Dar es Salaam and Mombasa is special. They are the two largest transshipment ports in East Africa, so the employment scale can support so many population gatherings. Just providing services for passing ships and sailors has created a large number of jobs. Right now, after the expansion of Nairobi City is completed, it will form a "big" city with a population exceeding 50,000, or even 100,000.

The third largest city in East Africa is currently Mbeya, and the fourth is Mwanza. It will also be reduced to the fourth and fifth positions due to the sudden rise of Nairobi. This is the power of policy.

Although East African cities seem to be able to reach the European level, most of the existing urban populations in East Africa are at the township level, basically the provincial capitals, and Mombasa is currently the only provincial capital with a population of more than 50,000.

After listening to von der Leyen's words, Wolfgang also became interested in East Africa. He asked: "If you look at it this way, Mombasa's development is still remarkable. A modern German-style city is not a small achievement, I would like to know what is the current population size of East African cities?"

Population, especially the size of urban population, means labor force and market. If East Africa is qualified for these two, plus the resources of East Africa, it will be short of entrepreneurial investment.

Although the Austrian business investigation team was entrusted by the royal family, everyone mainly came to make a fortune, that is, for the sake of His Majesty the emperor, they traveled thousands of miles to East Africa for investigation.

Von der Leyen did not answer Wolfgang's question directly, but said: "At present, the population in East Africa is mainly concentrated in agriculture and rural areas, and the urban population is not prominent. But the northern industrial belt we are planning, that is, Mombasa, The three cities of Nairobi and Kisumu are the nodes of the industrial belt. The population of these three cities alone has reached about 100,000. Among them, Nairobi, because of the war in the Venice area, many experienced workers will immigrate to East Africa, and the urban population of Nairobi will break through In addition to this industrial belt, there are many villages distributed, and the population in the area is about 600,000."

Von der Leyen did not disclose the specific strength of the entire East Africa, but just repeated the population size of Kenya to the delegation.

Don’t need von der Leyen to describe it too much. The number of 600,000 alone makes many people feel itchy. The current population of Greece is only 1.45 million, while southern Kenya not only has a relatively sufficient population, but also has abundant resources.

Von der Leyen continued: "In addition, we are planning a large-scale cotton planting base in the north. It is not ordinary cotton, but long-staple cotton. The quality may be somewhat different from that of Egypt, but it will not be much worse. There are large-scale farms, and the agricultural foundation in southern Kenya is relatively good, with sorghum, wheat, corn, and millet planted, including coffee plantations in the South Prussian province where Nairobi is located."

This is the agricultural foundation of the northern industrial belt, rich in raw materials, and Austrian businessmen can also rely on these products to invest in promising related industries.

Wolfgang: "In this regard, East Africa does have its own advantages. After all, you are rich in land resources and located in the tropics. However, I want to learn about the local medical conditions."

Wolfgang spoke his mind. Everyone has heard that the environment in Africa is harsh and there are many diseases. It is not a question of whether to invest or not, but a question of whether to die.

Von der Leyen: "Mr. Wolfgang, you don't have to worry about this. Our investment in medical care in East Africa is very high, and through sanitation and environmental transformation, the population loss has been reduced to an extremely low level. In this respect It can be said that it is far lower than other regions at the same latitude, and is very close to European standards. You see, I came to East Africa four years ago, and many of our government officials, including military officers, have stayed in East Africa for at least three years."

Even if von der Leyen doesn't say so, the living environment in East Africa is actually better than most areas at the same latitude. After all, most of East Africa is located in the tropical plateau, which is very livable. In addition, East Africa has vigorously promoted hygiene and Mandatory enforcement and large-scale culling of mosquitoes, although because of the low level of technology, people other than Ernst can't figure out the principle, but inexplicably reduced the probability of disease outbreaks in East Africa.

Not to mention that in the current era, Europe may not be able to do much to deal with diseases. As far as Ernst knows, in his previous life in 1872, during the World Expo held in Vienna, a large-scale epidemic of cholera occurred, causing thousands of deaths. This is still Vienna .

The non-concentrated population distribution in East Africa, coupled with the effective monitoring system, also makes it impossible for the disease to spread in East Africa on a large scale. The Minister of Health in East Africa is a powerful faction. The existence of the top five in the government knows that East Africa is in this regard. It is important to note that there are not a few officials in East Africa who rely on health, medical and disease prevention and control systems. The subsequent rollout of the telegraph system in East Africa will further increase the possibility of blocking the spread of infectious diseases in East Africa.

(end of this chapter)