Chapter 625 Chapter 316 Thoughts on Dire Dawa City
Modelaine said to Roman Carlin that the development of Mogadishu Port is indeed inconsistent with its original historical status. Before East Africa occupied Mogadishu, Mogadishu should have been the largest port on the East African coast. Now it can only be compared with some less important ports.
On the one hand, this is the reason why East Africa focuses on developing the southern and inland areas. On the other hand, the early destruction of the Gredi Sultanate in East Africa also caused its original commercial trade to drop off a cliff, and Eventually it ceased to exist, and only flourished again in the past two or three years with the fruit and vegetable trade.
"Your Excellency, Commissioner, I'm sorry to trouble you. Our province has been at a disadvantage in terms of immigration quotas for many years. If more immigrants can be added, it will certainly greatly alleviate the labor shortage problem in the province." Luo Man Carlin said.
There is no doubt that most immigrants are high-quality labor force. Maybe they are new to East Africa and it will take some time to integrate into East Africa.
"Don't be too happy too early. I'm just reporting to the central government. As for whether the central government agrees or disagrees, that's up to two people. But there is a high probability that they will agree, because since they have approved your plan before, it means that the central government attaches great importance to it."< br>
Modelaine spoke ambiguously, but actually thought that it would be impossible not to pay attention to it, because this project in Somalia is bound to be profitable, so the East African government is willing to invest, otherwise it would definitely not approve the "Eurasian Fruit Basket" Plan", since this project has been approved, resources will definitely be invested.
……
Dire Dawa.
“Will this major economic move in the Northern Province affect Dire Dawa?” asked Herlein, the mayor of Dire Dawa.
"Mr. Mayor, you are worrying too much. Although Dire Dawa belongs to the Northern Province, the relationship between the two is extremely special. When Dire Dawa was first established, it was a military town and generally did not participate in the affairs of the Northern Province. , but it involves the military, and the Ministry of National Defense will also intervene in the Northern Province, so Dire Dawa is in a proactive position anyway.”
“In fact, in comparison, Dire Dawa’s geographical location is. It’s embarrassing. Although we are part of the Northern Province, we are at the northernmost point. The economy and population of the Northern Province are mainly distributed in the Shabelle River Basin in the south, while our Dire Dawa is south of the East African Rift Valley. The economic ties between the two sides are not close. "
The city of Dire Dawa was first established to counterbalance the power of Britain, France and Italy near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. As the population of Dire Dawa increased, it gradually became a military town. It developed into a city, but still had a distinct military flavor.
After becoming a city, the Dire Dawa Municipal Government was also established and had some of the same configurations as other cities in East Africa. However, Dire Dawa City also had an embarrassment, that is, it was too far away from the Northern Province. .
The economic center of gravity and population of the Northern Province are in the southeast, while Dire Dawa City is in the northwest. Therefore, when the Northern Provincial Government formulates plans and implements policies, it will naturally ignore Dire Dawa City.
This is actually easy to understand. For example, if the main crop of a province is wheat, but some areas of the province grow rice, then the province is more likely to issue wheat planting subsidies than rice planting subsidies, which will easily generate centrifugal force.
Dire Dawa City obviously does not have a strong sense of belonging to the Northern Province, but this is not important to Dire Dawa City, because Dire Dawa City is an important border town, so its priority Even higher than the Northern Province, which instead wants to support the development of Dire Dawa City.
“Mr. Mayor, our city of Dire Dawa is geographically remote, and due to military reasons, many industries cannot develop as desired. Furthermore, the conditions here are not very good, so we should give priority to providing services to the military. Guarantee, this is one of the reasons why the city of Dire Dawa was established, so it cannot be done at the expense of the last.” The emergence of Dire Dawa in the previous life was entirely due to the construction of the Ethiopian Railway, which made it an important hub connecting the Port of Djibouti.
The purpose of establishing Dire Dawa City in East Africa is also related to the Djibouti region, but it is completely different from Ethiopia's idea.
Ethiopia's purpose is mainly for domestic economic development. After all, the country has no access to the sea, while East Africa's purpose is entirely to target the hostile forces in the region militarily.
Hlaine: "You are right. As a mayor, I am indeed different from other regions. Dire Dawa City is mostly populated by soldiers and their families. It is essentially to provide security services to frontline soldiers."
Having said this, Helaine is still more envious of officials in other regions of the Northern Province. This big move of the "Eurasian Fruit Basket Plan" is all political achievements, but Dire Dawa City can only watch. , Helian was naturally not very happy.
“Mr. Mayor, actually you don’t have to be too depressed. Mogadishu has its advantages, and we in Dire Dawa City also have our own economic upswing. This time we have indeed implemented the ‘Eurasian Fruit Basket Plan’. We cannot participate, but we can definitely set up some economic projects ourselves to boost the economy of Dire Dawa."
"What do you think?" Helian asked.
"The biggest geographical advantage of our city in Dire Dawa is that it is close to the forces of various countries, especially Britain, France and Italy. Soldiers from Britain and France are high-quality customers. As for the Italians, their number is large enough, and because of Italy's colonization in the northwest , their material shortage is not small, our city of Dire Dawa can definitely promote the economic development of Dire Dawa City through border trade with the above three countries.”
“But the problem is that Dire Dawa City is not me. The final say is that the attitude of the military must also be taken into consideration, and if you want to develop foreign trade, you need the approval of the central government. It’s easier to say that in other areas, it may not be so easy for us in Dire Dawa City.”
"Mr. Mayor, it all depends on people. Dire Dawa City used to be a complete military town, so there is no need to consider the issue of economic development. Now Dire Dawa City has been formed, and an important role of the municipal government is to develop the local economy.
This is an important change, indicating that Dire Dawa City has shifted from its previous military use to a normal military-civilian dual-use city. Under this premise, things that could not be done before do not mean that they cannot be done now. This is a relaxation of policy. We just need to submit our suggestions to the central government and wait for the response from above. This is not something you should worry about."
Helian: "What you said makes sense. Now De. Redawa City is indeed different from before. This should be a kind of self-confidence supported by national strength. After all, there are probably only a few forces that dare to go to war directly with East Africa, and the national defense pressure in the border areas has been greatly weakened. "
"So things that could not be done before may have changed now. If we leave this issue to the central government, the responsibility will not be on us in the end. On the contrary, it can improve the reputation of Dire Dawa City in front of the central government."
This is also the advantage of Dire Dawa City. As a military town, it can directly contact the central government without going through the Northern Provincial Government.
(End of this chapter)