Chapter 1082 The place where dreams start (first update, please subscribe)
Everyone who has witnessed the industrial civilization of the Western world has a dream of a powerful country.
At this point, Hassan, who once studied in the UK, is the same as King Pahlavi and other Iranian political elites. They are all eager to achieve national prosperity and strength through the introduction of Western technology and equipment.
Turn Tehran into the Birmingham of the Middle East, and turn Iran into the England or Germany of the Middle East.
Don’t say they really dare to think about it. In fact, this is also the common understanding of elites in developing countries after studying in the West.
Because of this, two years ago, Iran just received a development grant of US$45 million and a loan of US$245 million from the United States. They used this as starting capital to start a vigorous seven-year development plan. This made the country rich and powerful, thereby escaping its tragic fate.
As chairman of the Economic Committee, Hassan personally participated in the formulation and implementation of the plan - a planned investment of US$1.2 billion for infrastructure construction in industry, agriculture, transportation, education and other aspects. Once this plan is completed, Iran will change its two-thousand-year-old appearance and take on a new look of the 20th century.
But two years after the plan was implemented, both the ambitious Pahlavi and Hassan and others discovered a problem - it is not easy to build a Birmingham in Iran.
As a country, Iran is very poor in terms of industry. Even in the whole of Iran, the most modern factories are oil refineries opened by foreigners. There are only a few maintenance factories in Tehran that can barely be regarded as modern enterprises.
At the beginning, Hassan was also ambitious. He had first-class industrial equipment in Europe. He had 1.2 billion US dollars in hand. Was he still worried about not being able to buy a modern one?
Of course, it is not possible that all 1.2 billion U.S. dollars will be used to purchase equipment, and Hassan is well aware of this. To develop industry is a systematic project, which requires the construction of petroleum, chemical, textile, sugar, flour, cement, fertilizer and other factories, as well as the construction of power stations and supporting transmission grids to provide power, and the improvement of transportation. , but also to invest in agriculture, etc. In short, all of this requires money.
1.2 billion US dollars sounds like a lot, but in fact it is not enough at all.
Besides, the funds in the plan are just plans, and they will ultimately be maintained by oil revenue. Two years after the plan was implemented, oil revenue could no longer afford the seven-year plan, and rising military expenditures were also consuming limited funds. Now Iran can only rely on deficit finance and high foreign debt to sustain itself.
So, this time, Hassan came to Nanyang to get a loan to continue the plan. Of course, Hassan, who is familiar with modern society, also knows that it is not possible to obtain loans by talking. He has 50 million US dollars in foreign exchange in his pocket, which is all the foreign exchange he can mobilize at present.
What he needs is to use this US$50 million order to obtain a loan of at least US$200 million from Nanyang.
During the past few days in Nanyang, Hassan, accompanied by officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, visited enterprises in Nanyang. Hassan, who originally didn’t know much about Nanyang, took the high-speed train around the island and traveled at a speed of more than 200 kilometers per hour. In "Bullet Train", you can feel the dramatic changes of the times in the lightning speed.
While thinking in front of the large hydropower station in Nanyang, looking at the dense power grid, he felt the power of modern civilization.
Subsequently, Hassan and his team entered Nanyang's enterprises. Among those enterprises, he learned for the first time that Nanyang's machinery manufacturing can not only manufacture various machine tools, but also large-scale industrial equipment. .
"Power generation equipment, we are currently very short of electricity."
Sitting in the high-speed rail carriage returning to Chang'an, Hassan pointed to a promotional brochure of a steam turbine and said,
"All factories are inseparable from electricity."
"Yes, this is a 100,000-kilowatt host machine. Its technology level is world-leading, more advanced than that of the United States and the United Kingdom. "
As an engineer, Taremi pointed to the photos on the promotional brochure and introduced.
“And you see, they also introduced electronic computers into the control system of the power station, which is really advanced!”
Taremi admired beside Hassan. Judging from the photos, those power station workers are completely different from ordinary workers. They wear blue shirts, hold coffee in their hands, and see rows of monitoring panels in front of them.
"This is simply a science fiction world!"
A science fiction world!
This is the place where Hassan was most moved after arriving in Nanyang. Just like the high-speed railway he was sitting on, sitting in the comfortable first-class carriage, Hassan seemed to understand why His Majesty turned his interest to airplanes. Railway.
Not just because the railway is suitable for Iran, but because the high-speed railway - advanced high-speed railway will benefit more Iranians.
“Yes, it is a science fiction world, but money is needed to realize this science fiction world.”
Having said this, Hassan took another look at the promotional leaflet in his hand.
"Although this equipment is good, it is not cheap. It would cost tens of millions of dollars to build a 100,000-kilowatt power station..."
Hasan looked out of the car. Go, look at the endless plantations outside the window, and say:
“The electricity it provides can indeed satisfy many people’s needs. The demand for many factories, but the price is still too expensive, and our power plants are borrowed from American loans. In this case, it is difficult to purchase similar equipment from Nanyang."
This is Hassan had no choice but to use American aid and loans to purchase industrial equipment from the United States. Of course, if Nanyang can provide loans, they will also import Nanyang's industrial equipment.
The only question is, is Nanyang willing to provide a loan?
In other words, how much loan you are willing to provide.
Sitting in the first-class carriage, Hassan put aside the promotional pages in his hand. There were piles of product promotional pages, and these promotional pages contained a dazzling array of industrial equipment.
But when looking at them, Hassan didn't have any interest. He only felt that the dream of a powerful country in his heart seemed to be further away, even if he found the direction of development in this vast ocean.
However, to achieve all this requires money!
In fact, US$1.2 billion...is really not much, and it is spread over seven years, averaging less than US$200 million per year!
It is simply a fantasy to realize industrialization with such a small amount of money!
Why is the road to industrialization so difficult!
Hasan thought sadly. When he was studying at the University of London, he once imagined that if Iran wanted to get rid of the control of Britain and Russia and get rid of poverty, it must develop industry and implement secular reforms.
In the past days, when he was in charge of the local area, he had been advancing all of this little by little within his own jurisdiction. He hoped that one day he could realize this dream. But they still think of the problem simply. The development of industry cannot be accomplished by just a few technical personnel. The development of industry not only requires a large number of technical personnel, but also requires a large investment of capital.
While Iran lacks both the funds needed to develop industry, it also lacks the required talents.
Neither people nor money.
What should be used to develop industry?
Hassan couldn't help but think of the European technicians in Nanyang companies. Even Nanyang still needs foreign technical personnel. The same is true for Iran. There are many engineers from the United States in Iranian factories.
"When introducing Nanyang equipment, we must also hire Nanyang technical personnel."
This is inevitable.
But industrialization, is industry so easy to build?
Soon, the high-speed train arrived at the station. After Hassan and his party finished their tour around the island, they checked into the Peace Hotel - this is the place where Nanyang entertains guests from all over the world. The name of the hotel is absolutely auspicious.
The next morning, Hassan finally met Li Guoren again. In the hotel conference room, the meeting between the two parties was enthusiastic. After a simple exchange and compliments on Nanyang's construction achievements, Hassan Finally made his intention clear.
"It is precisely because we have witnessed the miracle of Nanyang that we have deepened our idea of developing industry. However, Mr. General, although we have formulated a seven-year plan, we have neither funds nor talents, so we hope to get help from Nanyang. "
"Help..."
Li Guoren pondered for a moment and said.
“Of course we are willing to provide as much help as we can. After all, you have reached a consensus with His Majesty the King in Tehran as early as last year, and we are also willing to help you, but...”
Looking at Hassan, Li Guoren asked.
"What kind of help do you need?"
"This..."
While Hassan was pondering, Li Guoren said again.
"If the authorities come forward, Nanyang's financial community can provide you with a loan of no less than 300 million South dollars, but the interest..."
Twenty million US dollars!
Before Li Guoren could finish speaking, a somewhat excited Hassan said.
“6.5%!”
Hassan said quickly, fearing that the other party would refuse.
“This is the same as the ten-year loan interest that Iran obtained from Wall Street.”
Faced with Hassan’s asking price, Li Guoren shook his head. His shake made Hassan’s My heart tightened.
"Is the interest rate too low? Mr. President, this is already a very high interest rate."
Indeed, 6.5% is the prevailing international lending rate in the market, and 200 million U.S. dollars is 13 million dollars a year. Interest! If it is a country with poor credit, it may exceed 8%, or even reach 10%, which is a huge profit!
The level of interest rates is linked to the country's credit. The interest rates for international financing in countries such as Europe and the United States are around 4%, while in countries such as South America they are above 6%, and some even exceed 10%. There is no way to be too creditworthy. Difference.
It is even possible that when someone borrows money, they have no intention of paying it back.
Nanyang’s financing cost has been 4% from the beginning - Nanyang is a member of the Commonwealth, and the financing cost of the Commonwealth has always been influenced by the United Kingdom. In other words, it has the British endorsement - —This is one of the reasons why the debt crisis hit Britain so hard decades later.
Li Guoren said.
"It's not about interest! It's about..."
Looking directly at Hassan, Li Guoren asked.
“But what do you want? Are you here to seek a loan, or are you here to seek an overall plan for national modernization!”
Do you still need to ask?
Of course, we are seeking an overall plan for national modernization... Wait!
As if he suddenly understood something, Hassan asked:
"An overall plan for national modernization? Is there such a plan in the world?"
Facing the curious Hassan, Li Guoren smiled.
“Isn’t this plan right in front of you? Isn’t what you have seen and heard in the past few days exactly what will happen after the plan is implemented?”
(End of this chapter)