Chapter 628 Introducing Foreign Investment
In September, after the central government dispatched some engineering teams from the south to the Northern Province and Mogadishu New Port finally started construction, the Northern Provincial Government officially invited Austria through the Hechingen Consortium channel Businessmen interested in agricultural product processing went to Mogadishu for visits and inspections.
“Everyone, our Northern Province has the largest tropical crop planting area closest to Europe. In recent years, Mogadishu has been the leader in the fruit and vegetable export trade in northern East Africa. I think with this advantage, if you choose If you invest in Mogadishu, you will definitely get rich returns," Kranis said to the Austrian businessmen who came at the reception.
"Mr. Mayor, I see that your port has only just started construction. Can you guarantee that Mogadishu Port will be operating normally before we invest?"
"This What’s easy to say is that in two months’ time, during the off-season, we will recruit a group of temporary workers from surrounding rural areas to speed up the progress of the project and ensure the normal completion of the Mogadishu New Port by the end of the year.”
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"But there are many problems to be solved when building a factory in Mogadishu. For example, coal is needed to start the machine, industrial workers are needed to maintain the machine operation, and there are also a series of problems such as transportation, lighting, water supply, etc."
< br>"Mr. Claire, let's put your question aside for a moment. We in Mogadishu City will naturally consider what you mentioned. This has to mention the Mogadishu New City Plan approved by our city government. In order to take care of In Mogadishu’s New Port Vision Plan, our city plans to build a new main urban area in the south of the city based on the scale of the existing urban area to accommodate the introduction of industries,” Kranis said.
“You are planning to build a new city, but will this conflict with your port construction? Now you don’t know when the port will be completed. Isn’t the so-called new city a temporary pie? , you can’t eat without hearing it.”
“You don’t have to worry about this, Mr. Claire, our new city plan will definitely not delay you in making money. You can build the factory, we Mogadi. Shashi has also prioritized the construction of tap water, power plants, and roads. Of course, water and electricity must be charged. If any of you are interested, you can invest. As for the manpower issue, we in East Africa are a country with a large number of immigrants. As long as there is support from the central government, it will soon be It can fill the shortcomings of Mogadishu in this regard.”
Although the scale of East African immigrants is not as large as before, it is only relative to the whole country. A little leakage in the hands of the East African government is enough for Mogadishu. My mouth is full of oil after eating.
"How can Mogadishu solve the problem of industrial workers? Workers are not just farmers who come out of the land and become overnight workers?"
"This problem is easier to solve. We in East Africa implement compulsory education. There are a large number of students in Mogadishu. In previous years, they were arranged to farm directly after graduation. If you can invest in building a factory here, it can just solve the employment problem of a group of secondary education graduates.”
There is an overall surplus of education in East Africa, especially for middle school students. The East African industry cannot arrange so many students, so they can only send these students back to continue farming. This is not without benefits. Farmers also need to supplement their knowledge, so that future East African farmers will have more knowledge. and knowledge levels make it easier to accept new agricultural concepts such as mechanization and scientific planting.
“Then how many students can you provide?” Austrians have no specific concept of compulsory education in East Africa. After all, East Africa is not an open country, and outsiders don’t know much about East Africa.
“The number of high school graduates in Mogadishu last year was more than 300, and only more than 100 entered the factory. We can supply you with the rest, and this is only Mogadishu, the entire Northern Province The number of middle school students should be around four thousand.”
"How many middle school students do you have in East Africa?"
"Of course, but it's not what you think. Schools in East Africa are still very different from those in Europe. Our students have fewer classes, fewer courses, and more management. It is loose, so the corresponding academic qualifications may not meet the standards, but with a middle school degree, you will definitely know more than a primary school degree in Germany," Kranis said. This is the same as Tian Ji's horse racing. Compared with students with European academic qualifications at the same level, the average level of East African students is definitely very low. But if I compare middle school students with European primary school students, the situation is reversed.
And the exaggerated middle school penetration rate in East Africa makes the number of middle school students in East Africa quite large, which is very attractive.
“If that’s the case, that’s acceptable, but can we check it out at a local school?”
Although what Kranis said is very moving, you must know that a high school education is considered a talent in Europe. Generally, you can work your way up to the management level in a factory. Therefore, seeing is believing and hearing is believing. Austrian businessmen still remain cautious. They did not believe that this level of education existed in East Africa.
“Of course there is no problem. I know this is not very credible to you, but it is the fact. East Africa can be said to be the highest among the major countries in the world in promoting education. The education level is too uneven, which is related to the shortage of teachers in East Africa, but with the continuous accumulation of talents in East Africa, this problem will become smaller and smaller in the future until it is on par with European middle schools," Kranis said.
Although the overall level of education in East Africa is low, the best of the best are selected. For positions like teachers, they must be filled by normal school graduates with excellent academic performance. If this continues to accumulate, one day East Africa will get rid of the teacher shortage. shortcomings.
However, Kranis also understands these Austrians. In the situation of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it is somewhat unable to universalize compulsory primary education nationwide, let alone popularize secondary education on a large scale.
Nowadays, European middle schools can be said to be very valuable. In addition to regular courses, they cover a wide range of foreign languages such as painting, music, religion, Latin, etc. Unlike the textbooks in East Africa, which only have German and mathematics. , politics, history and geography, physics and chemistry plus physical education.
Therefore, the contrast between East African middle schools and middle schools in Austrian perception is huge, and it can even be said that they are not the same thing. Of course, this also puts forward higher requirements for the level of European students.
Ernst has no doubt that European middle school students are much more valuable than college students in the 21st century. European college students in the 19th century were synonymous with elites.
The Austrian businessmen were dubious, so the next day the city of Mogadishu specially organized them to visit the only middle school in Mogadishu, Mogadishu No. 1 Middle School.
Here, Austrian businessmen finally figured out the nature of East African middle schools, which were "beggars' version" middle schools, and they were highly biased, with special emphasis on cultivating science students.
This cannot be considered a "talent" in Europe. After all, if you don't even have the ability to appreciate art, how can you be considered a "middle school student".
But this already makes them very satisfied. After all, they are here to invest in factories, not to need artists. Moreover, the "beggars' version" middle school is also a middle school, and the learning content is not comparable to that of ordinary German elementary schools. Some Austrian businessmen have even begun to think Is it possible to introduce such "cheap" middle school students from East Africa to work in Austria? Although the gold content is not high, the quantity is sufficient to quench our thirst!
(End of this chapter)