Chapter 1052: Marching Together
Rhine City.
Iringa City can think of market demand, and other cities in East Africa, especially cities with less obvious advantages like Iringa City, can also think of it.
The exploration of economic development in these cities and regions will also be brought together with the report in the Rhine City, the political center of East Africa, providing the East African central government with more experience and data to adjust the national economy at any time.
Ernst: “In recent years, the cities of Maputo and Iringa have been actively promoting the transformation of industrial development strategies to adapt to the times, which has great significance for small and medium-sized cities in my country and non-resource-based cities. It has reference significance, so breaking conventional thinking is very important for urban development. We must actively absorb these opinions that are beneficial to economic development and make corresponding arrangements.”
The formulation of Iringa City's development strategy also reflects the flexibility of East Africa's economic development to a certain extent.
Although East Africa is a planned economy country, it is not a comprehensive plan, especially in the agricultural field. Although East Africa began to develop heavy industry with all its strength after the 1990s, this does not mean that East Africa has neglected agriculture and light industry. .
As of the end of the First Five-Year Plan, agriculture was one of the main sources of income for East African countries. Before the 1990s, developing agriculture was East Africa's basic national policy and the true foundation of a country.
After all, just to obtain more people, agriculture must be the basic guarantee. Therefore, East Africa's food production has increased year by year, and the population of East Africa has also reached an astonishing over 80 million at the beginning of the century.
As of 1905, the total agricultural output value of East Africa still accounted for more than 60%, and there was still a long way to go before industrialization. Therefore, East Africa is still an agricultural country. Of course, it is different from general agriculture. Compared with other countries, it is a little stronger and can be considered as a semi-industrial country.
Therefore, in order to ensure the stability of the country's main source of income and cope with the pressure of population growth in East Africa, East Africa will not underestimate the development of the agricultural sector.
As for the light industry, the most obvious shortcoming in East Africa is not entirely caused by the economic system of East Africa. It is caused by the inherent shortcomings of light industry in East Africa since the colonial era. Therefore, although the development of East Africa's light industry is relatively slow among national industries, , but the progress is the greatest.
So the planned economy in East Africa is fundamentally different from that of the Soviet Union. In the Soviet Union’s first two five-year plans, investment in heavy industry accounted for more than 80% of the total investment, while investment in heavy industry in East Africa was less than 100%. Forty percent, including light industry, East Africa's industrial investment is only over 50%.
This is also the main reason why the first two five-year plans in East Africa were significantly less effective than the Soviet Union, but the development of East Africa's industrial structure will obviously not be as top-heavy as the Soviet Union.
Ernst continued: "During the Second Five-Year Plan, the development of my country's light and heavy industries had different points. Central and large state-owned enterprises were active in the field of heavy industry investment, while local enterprises were good at the development of light industry. The typical feature was state investment. Focus on enterprises above designated size, while local governments are keen on setting up small and medium-sized enterprises, mainly light industry or basic processing industry. ”
"The agricultural field has greater flexibility, because agriculture is not conducive to planned execution and is easily affected by various natural disasters. The conditions for agricultural development in various regions are also different, so agricultural output in various regions is unstable, and agricultural management tends to be guided. , rather than tough instructions.”
“In addition, there are service industries, including medical, education, finance, catering, transportation and other special industries, which occupy an important position in our country’s national construction, but they are also our country’s. and the most neglected among industries. "
The tertiary industry is the service industry. It is difficult to compete with industry at the moment. However, the specific situation of investment in the tertiary industry in East Africa needs to be analyzed in detail, such as medical care. Education and transportation have developed rapidly in recent years, while finance, catering, entertainment, etc. have developed more slowly.
Although East Africa's industrial development is rapid, it is not too outstanding when compared horizontally with other countries and regions, especially with the United States and Germany. In terms of agriculture and service industries, East Africa and other countries In comparison, each has its own advantages and disadvantages.
Of course, during the Second Five-Year Plan period, in addition to normal industries, East Africa’s defense industry expenditures increased rapidly, especially after the completion of the battleship Perseverance. In the next ten years, East Africa’s maritime military power will enter a rapid development phase. development stage. According to the plan, after this round of maritime power expansion, East Africa will further consolidate its position as the number one military power along the Indian Ocean coast and form an absolute advantage over all Indian Ocean countries and regions, including India.
Ernst: "It can be said that our country's economic development model has no reference model in the world. Therefore, it is completely understandable that economic development will have twists and turns and difficulties, even in European and American industrial countries. Facing difficulties such as the economic crisis, it is not surprising that we encounter various problems in economic development.”
“Solving these problems is the key, rather than covering up and ignoring them. During the economic boom, many problems arise. Contradictions and problems will be obscured by the heat of the economy, which is what we need to pay attention to.”
“Although the national economy is a game of chess, when it comes to local economic development, the same principle may not apply. After all, everyone. Regions have the characteristics of each region. What we have to do is to reconcile the differences between the regional and national economies, so as to facilitate the more efficient development of the national economy. "
Ernst said this, which means. We support Iringa City’s experiment in regional economic development. If the results are good, we will of course further promote Iringa City’s development experience.
In fact, this experimental economic development model is not unique in East Africa. This was the case in the development of Maputo City before.
Today, Maputo City has become the fastest growing city in Hanseatic Province, and its economic size is rapidly approaching the provincial capital of New Hamburg.
Of course, the economic development of Maputo City is not as representative as that of Iringa City, because the conditions in Maputo City are better than those of Iringa City. Maputo City is an important coastal city in East Africa. It is the intersection of the Mozambique plains and southern East Africa, which Iringa City does not have.
“Under the planned economy model, not all industries are suitable for the planned form, so in order to avoid economic rigidity, we must fully give local governments some independent rights for development. Of course, some red line issues still need to be coordinated under the leadership of the central government To carry out economic development, we should focus on the big and let go of the small, and promote the vitality of the country's economic development."
In fact, Ernst's original purpose of implementing the planned economy in East Africa was to accelerate East African industry, rather than treating the planned economy as It is a "special medicine" for economic development, which is also related to the national conditions of East Africa.
Through compulsory education, East Africa has greatly improved the basic quality of the people across the country, and at the same time trained a large number of talents suitable for industrial development. On this basis, it is possible to quietly develop a planned economy.
In the past life, many countries in Africa actually belonged to the Soviet system. However, when they copied the Soviet experience, it can be said that the devils were dancing in chaos. Not only were they unable to industrialize their own countries, but they also made the national economy a mess. To be honest, in the past life of Africa, it was impossible to carry out normal economic activities in a region with a prenatal education level per capita like Africa.
Letting them govern the country according to the tribal governance model is the limit of many African countries. Leaders who can maintain the overall stability of society are considered "wise kings".
Ernst continued: "While our country's industry is developing, we cannot ignore the development of other industries. Although the status of industry in the national economy is increasing day by day, a normal country affects all aspects. This is also during the Second Five-Year Plan. The main reason why we are actively adjusting the comprehensive development of industries across the country is that East Africa wants to become a global power. Although developing industry is the key, only developing industry will also lead to malnutrition.”
“So the pursuit of economic development in East Africa. To prosper, we must diversify in the future and realize the simultaneous advancement of various industries. Of course, at this stage, our capabilities are limited, so it is understandable to focus on the development of a certain field. However, as the economy develops, we will always have to make up for those original shortcomings. ”
(End of this chapter)