Chapter 285 Signing
Congo (DRC), Parliament Building.
“Has the international food aid not arrived yet?”
“Not yet.”
Atul Guerra looked respectfully at the always calm and calm leader Kabila , but the turmoil in recent days has obviously affected his mood.
"Several large-scale demonstrations broke out in the city today. If no food comes in, unrest may not be far away."
"The police and the army must be stable." Kabila said: "It's not that there is no food in the country, it's just that the price is too expensive."
Atu was silent for a while.
Food is more than expensive!
A ton of corn costs US$500, which is difficult for even government officials to afford, let alone the poor.
"Damn international grain merchants! We must do something!"
Kabila thought for a moment without a smile. Although he has only officially taken office, he has actually been in control of this country for several years.
Many wars, big and small, were fought.
The external situation is extremely complex. Armed forces are entrenched in the eastern mining areas, especially in Rwanda, Uganda and other countries, which support a large number of armed forces and illegally mine and smuggle mineral resources.
And these ores eventually ended up in the hands of Western countries.
Similarly, the food lifeline of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is also in the hands of international grain merchants, and there is no room for resistance.
Import only.
Kabila thought for a while and said: "Some time ago, there were companies in China that wanted to invest. I remember that there was paid food aid."
Atu hesitated. Said: "The food is still far from enough, and it is said that after several negotiations, the agreement has never been unified."
Kabila frowned and asked: "Where is my Minister of Agriculture Nzanga?"
"He is busy looking for food from the FAO. Now all countries have begun to restrict food exports. Only China has provided a batch of assistance to the FAO."
Kabila said: "As for the negotiations with Chinese companies, Follow me and make sure the food comes in as soon as possible."
"I heard that people from Mumba have ideas and want Jiahe to invest in Kisangani."
Kabila frowned. , but thinking about the recent famines and rebellions that have occurred in various places, this batch of food can really save lives.
“Tell them, this is my order, and anyone who dares to interfere will be killed!”
……
February 18th.
This day is the Spring Festival of the lunar calendar.
Guo Yang and his party drove to a prosperous manor somewhere west of Kinshasa, preparing to meet Eddie, a senior official of Equateur Province.
He is also the chief of one of the Pygmy ethnic groups, mainly concentrated in Equateur Province.
This time we're going through the city.
For safety, two cars were specially driven, and in addition to Guo Yang and Yu Honghai, they also brought 6 security personnel.
But at a certain intersection, a group of black people still rushed towards the car, holding various weapons in their hands, including wooden sticks, knives, and barrels of gasoline.
"Hare, don't stop, rush over." Cannon roared, taking out his pistol and getting ready to shoot at any time.
Fortunately, there was no danger.
Yu Honghai sighed: "It's getting more and more chaotic."
Guo Yang stabilized his mind and asked: "Was Mbandaka so chaotic a few months ago?"
Yu Honghai thought about it for a while. Son, "The security there is not good, but there should be no war, and Eddie has great influence there."
War and security are also one of the four factors that need to be considered in Jiahe's investment. one.
Guo Yang smiled and said: "It seems that you had a good conversation before."
"Yes." Yu Honghai did not shy away, "I can feel that he attaches great importance to this project, otherwise he would not fly from Mbandaka to Kinshasa."
Originally, Guo Yang wanted to go to Mbane. From Dhaka, Luo Xiu, Gan Jian from the Dry Farming Center and others all tried to dissuade him.
Due to the food crisis, no one knows the current situation in Mbandaka, and no one dares to let Guo Yang take risks.
So Eddie came on his own.
Nervously passed through the urban area of Kinshasa and arrived at the Ndjili area, a satellite city in the west of the capital.
Guo Yang looked at the barren weeds on the flat wilderness, and further away, there was the rapidly flowing and rolling river - the Congo River.
"Actually, this place is suitable for growing rice."
"I think it is suitable, too." Luo Xiu said.
Guo Yang smiled in surprise, "Expert Luo, tell me why? I want to see if you have made progress again."
"The land is flat and close to the water source." Luo Xiu pointed in another direction, "But the most important thing is that this place is close to the airport, so you can run away at any time."
Yu Honghai praised: "What a guy!"
Guo Yang smiled and said: "Be prepared for a rainy day, Lao Yu! Transportation is very important, especially in the event of emergencies, employees must have a route to evacuate from the Democratic Republic of the Congo in time. "
Yu Honghai thought for a while and said: "Well, there are not many other places in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but there are quite a few airports."
Guo Yang said: "You can buy a small plane. Used for navigation between Matadi-Kinshasa-Mbandaka”
The three cities correspond to Jiahe’s three industries: fruit, grain, and oil palm.
Yu Honghai pondered: "Is the investment too big? In addition to exporting various resources, it is difficult for Congo to make money from the domestic market."
The best business is definitely to make money from the rich and make money from the poor. You can't make a lot of money by dealing with them.
This is what Yu Honghai thinks.
It can be seen from Fengkai's export of agricultural machinery that Africa is the least profitable, followed by Southeast Asia, South America and other places.
Guo Yang did not hesitate and said: "Buy, in addition to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, other African countries can also become Jiahe's markets."
"Then buy a second-hand one first."
"It's up to you."
In the suburbs about 10 kilometers away from Ndjili International Airport, there is a heavily guarded luxury manor.
After a series of examinations, Guo Yang saw Eddie. His skin was as dark as sun-dried soil and his hair was slightly gray.
“Welcome, my friend.”
This old black man can actually speak fluent English, which makes Guo Yang's communication a lot easier.
"Hello, Chief Eddie, could you please make this trip."
After the greetings, we quickly got to the point.
Sure enough, as Yu Honghai said, Eddie was extremely interested in introducing a large company like Jiahe and tried his best to invite him. The conditions in all aspects were very favorable. The only condition was that both parties must cooperate and hire a large number of local people. .
Guo Yang said: "Chief Eddie, Jiahe is very interested in investing in Equatoria Province. Our biggest concern now is safety and how to cooperate?"
"You should rest assured about safety." Eddie smiled: "I have an army locally, which is enough to ensure our cooperation."
"Then how to cooperate? 100,000 hectares of oil palm plantation, Such an investment is not a small amount," Guo Yang said thoughtfully.
Eddie was also lost in thought.
This is obvious.
The question is how to contribute funds. Since we want to cooperate, Equatoria Province must also provide money.
"Guo, if you are interested, we can also do timber business with you."
"Timber?" Guo Yang asked doubtfully.
Eddie came closer and said softly: "In fact, the main resource of Equatoria Province is abundant timber, but we lack logging equipment, and the smuggling and export phenomenon is very serious."
What do you mean by being so close?
Guo Yang realized that the man in front of him was probably the main leader of the timber smuggling trade.
The financial source of its army should also be timber.
But Equateur Province is also located inland, and smuggling can only go to Congo (Brazzaville) and Central African countries. Maybe Gabon will also participate.
Guo Yang looked at Yu Honghai and said in Chinese: "Do you know the log exports of Equatoria Province?"
"It mainly relies on manual labor, and the amount of logging is not large." Yu Honghai said: " Moreover, his army's weapons are backward and the local area is short of food. They mainly feed on fruits and roots of various plants."
Guo Yang nodded. From this point of view, although Equatoria Province is poor and has no mineral resources, it has no mineral resources. There are abundant animals and plants, many food sources, and the situation is relatively stable.
There is a basis for cooperation between the two parties.
And this place has received less international attention, which is just suitable for Jiahe to develop in a low-key manner, support local forces, and seek more places.
Next, Guo Yang discussed with Eddie for a while and quickly settled the matter.
The two parties will cooperate to establish a company to develop 100,000 hectares of oil palm plantations. Eddie will not contribute capital, but it must solve issues such as land resources.
At the same time, the two parties cooperated to establish a timber trading company, with Jiahe holding 51% of the shares and Eddie holding 49% of the shares, to jointly develop logs and wood processing.
Eddie, the top leader of Equatoria Province and tribal chief, stood up and shook hands with Guo Yang and Yu Honghai in a friendly manner.
"Guo, I hope you can enter the venue as soon as possible. Mbandaka needs your help."
Guo Yang said: "We also want to start early, but the land is legally state-owned. , We need to obtain legal procedures."
"Leave the formalities to me."
Eddie took it all in one go, "I heard that Jiahe is exchanging food for land. Can you do it? Give us food directly?”
Jiahe Grain and Oil shipped nearly 50,000 tons of corn this time, which was obviously a lot, but Guo Yang still shook his head.
Eddie immediately said: "We will exchange it for wood."
"Okay." Guo Yang said: "Do you have any inventory? Our ship will arrive in more than ten days."
“Yes.”
“Trading in Matadi.”
"No problem."
"For this first transaction, I will give you a preferential price, corn is 400 US dollars/ton." Guo Yang thought for a while and said: "Food in the world is not cheap. Jiahe doesn’t make any money from you when it comes to purchasing costs and transportation.”
“You are so generous.”
“We are partners.”
That’s a nice smile. As a black chief, Guo Yang is already thinking about how to control and influence this black armed force in the future.
After leaving the heavily armed manor, Guo Yang immediately called Gaode and asked if there was any profit in exchanging wood for food.
The result is certainly positive.
Grain transported from China to Matadi is inherently profitable. Even if it is priced at US$400 per ton, after deducting various costs, the profit per ton is still 500 to 1,000 yuan.
Coupled with the increased value of wood, profits will only be higher, but wood species are also important. Mahogany, teak, chestnut, and pineapple are all good-quality wood.
No one here understands this, so of course we have to send professional people over.
Back to base.
The people from the Dry Farming Center and Jiahe have already arranged a New Year’s Eve lunch, with all kinds of pigs, ducks, chickens and fish, but no matter how good it is, it will definitely not be as good as the domestic ones.
After a while of drinking and drinking, Guo Yang, who was hiding under a big tree to enjoy the shade, suddenly received a call from the Lin Department.
"Linbu, happy New Year!" "Happy New Year."
After a few words, Lin Bu got down to business, "I'm in Kenya. I met with their leader today. They are vigorously developing the flower industry here."
Where is Kenya?
East Africa is separated from the Democratic Republic of Congo by countries such as Rwanda and Uganda. The equator runs through the middle of the country, borders Somalia, and is backed by the Indian Ocean...
A series of information quickly appeared in Guo Yang in mind.
Whether it is climate, soil, transportation, or consumer market, they are all extremely suitable for the development of the flower industry.
Guo Yang smiled and said: "This is a New Year gift from Lin Bu. Tianhe's flower seeds have found an emerging market."
Lin Bu said: "It is not an emerging market. Kenya is already Africa. The largest exporter of flowers, I just remembered that Jiahe has this business in the newspaper."
"In addition to Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, and Tanzania are also promoting the development of the flower industry."
Guo Yang said: "The four countries in East Africa!"
"Yeah." Lin continued: "With the abolition of the Lomé Agreement, and starting from this year, Kenya will also be in the WTO's 'fair competition' As a result, new opportunities have emerged in these areas.”
Guo Yang is not very familiar with the flower industry in East Africa, but he also knows a rumor from the Netherlands that the only way out for Dutch rose growers is to move to Africa.
The Africa here refers to the line from Egypt to Cape Town.
Now that I think about it, Kenya is one of the best.
Guo Yang said: "Looking back, I will let Tianhe open up the market here."
"Don't take it lightly. Kenya is known as a fertile ground for rose breeders, gathering flowers from all over the world. The company..." Lin Bu talked eloquently.
This time, Guo Yang was a little stunned.
Strictly speaking, Bu Lin could ignore this matter, but he just called.
After Guo Yang and other forest officials finished speaking, he solemnly said: "Tianhe will also go to Kenya or East Africa to carry out flower and other seed breeding work."
"Well..."
Listening to the busy signal coming from the mobile phone, Guo Yang thought about whether Lin Bu's move had any other meaning.
Do you want to make global money and spend it back home? Before he had time to think about it, Qu Yang called from China.
After giving New Year blessings, he also reported on the situation of Xia Tianhe Seed Industry.
Since "Seed Weekly" took the lead in emphasizing variety diversity, not only various companies followed suit, but other local media also followed suit.
Some local seed companies are even more direct, directly subsidizing improved seeds. Farmers are buying Tianyu No. 1 seeds at almost the original price.
As a result, there are many people who badmouth Tianyu No. 1, at least on the surface, this illusion has been created.
But in fact, the impact on Tianyu No. 1 is very limited. Farmers should buy it anyway, and the scope of promotion is tending to expand.
Tianhe’s performance growth is still very rapid.
From the first popularized Tianjiao No. 1 and Chihong No. 1, to Tianyu, Tianmai, Tiandou, Tianshu, sea rice, wheat, vegetables and other series of varieties, all have been It enjoys a good reputation in the market and the increase in sales is obvious.
Overall, very fierce and very strong!
Guo Yang said: "The Ministry of Agriculture mentioned to me flower breeding in Kenya..."
There was suddenly a lot of noise on the other end of the phone, the sound of crackling firecrackers.
Guo Yang pondered for a while, cultivating a new variety may take thousands of man-hours, and it relies on diligence, intuition, knowledge and experience to make it a successful commercial variety.
Up to now, Tianhe Academy of Sciences has achieved some results, but there are no high-value commercial varieties yet.
Africa is also a good place to practice.
“Hey, hello, boss.”
Guo Yang said: "In addition to the Americas, the breeding force in Africa also needs to be strengthened. Today, the leader mentioned flowers from Kenya and other East African regions."
"Okay."
"That's it, Happy New Year. "
After finishing the call with Qu Yang, before Guo Yang could take a breath, Xie Shijie, Lu Hanbin, Ning Xiaojing, Ji Zhuowen and others also called me to say New Year's greetings.
We also briefly talked about some work.
From the improvement of coastal saline-alkali land, fruit tree nurseries, Nanfan base, Jiahe grain and oil, to the best-selling of all categories of Hexi milk, there is basically no rest at noon.
The New Year's Eve dinner should have just been finished in China, and the Spring Festival Gala has not started yet. It is the peak period for New Year greetings.
Guo Yang is also happy to understand the domestic situation in this way.
Happy Farm has also been launched on Huinong.com, and this game is likely to sweep the country.
The number of daily active users on the school network has exceeded one million. Even though Huinong Network has just been launched, it has attracted many new users, and the stickiness of old users has also increased significantly.
Stealing food has become a social trend, and cultivating virtual trees has also become the goal of some people.
Quanwang obtained some biopesticide licenses in advance years ago, and several cities such as Lanshi, Jiuquan, and Hangcheng have already ordered plant regulators.
I am planning to give Yangliu Shu a contraceptive infusion after the New Year.
Jiahe has had a good year, with both revenue and profits doubling.
The employees also received on-the-job bonuses as they wished, and also received various benefits such as rice, noodles, oil, and milk from the company during the holidays
The network in the base is very unstable, but occasionally I can log in to QQ, and the messages in various groups are full of joy.
Guo Yang browses for a while from time to time.
In the evening, another red envelope was sent to another employee in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and this overseas Spring Festival was over.
The next day.
Guo Yang is still planning to stay at the base to screen seed cultivation plans. Now he basically has the corresponding variety combinations, he just needs to find a suitable method to come up with them.
"Let's go, boss."
Yu Honghai went to negotiate as if punching a clock.
“Go back soon.”
“Well, I guess there will be no results today.”
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a complete political system has been formed since the Mobutu era. The corruption system from top to bottom, the head transfers the national treasury, the national mining company is the head's private treasury, etc. are not uncommon.
Kabila was better off in the past few years due to the instability of his regime, but this trend has also begun to occur recently.
For this reason, even though Yu Honghai has stuffed a lot of money with officials at all levels, he is still not optimistic about this negotiation.
Only today, when he arrived at the conference room, he felt a different atmosphere.
First of all, there are two new faces.
Eddie, a high-ranking official in Equateur Province, and a slightly fat black man were introduced. After introduction, they found out that they were Kabila’s secretary Atul Guira.
At the beginning, Robert Villa of the Department of Land Affairs still insisted on various conditions.
But he was severely reprimanded by Atu.
"Robert, this is the leader's order. Do you want to taste the bullets?"
"Don't think that I don't know what you are thinking, put away your crooked brain."
“Sign, sign the agreement in person today.”
Yu Honghai and Eddie exchanged glances, then looked at the angry Artu and the silent Robert. They couldn't figure out who was exerting force for a moment.
But this is undoubtedly a good thing.
Today's meeting was extremely long, because Atuzhen watched all the affairs departments revise the agreement, and then spent another two days signing, going through the procedures, and sealing it.
When Yu Honghai puts a legal agreement document in front of Guo Yang, it means that Jiahe can get the land and start construction.
Guo Yang glanced at the contents of the agreement roughly.
Jiahe signed a cooperation agreement with the Ministry of Agriculture of the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the planting and development of 25,000 hectares of fruit trees, 10,000 hectares of grain, and 100,000 hectares of palm.
At the same time, target plots of 25,000 hectares, 10,000 hectares and 100,000 hectares for plantations were demarcated with the provincial governments of Bas-Congo, Kinshasa and Equateur.
We have also obtained land use certificates for a 50-hectare fruit tree nursery and a 200-hectare palm nursery.
A total of about 2.03 million acres of land is worth about 16 million US dollars, equivalent to 40,000 tons of corn. The domestic corn price has risen to 1,500 yuan/ton.
As soon as the grain is delivered, all the land use certificates will be obtained.
Calculated, Jiahe purchased the 25-year right to use 2 million acres of land in the Democratic Republic of the Congo at an actual cost of less than RMB 100 million.
This is definitely great value for money.
The fact that the contract was signed so quickly has something to do with the increasingly tense international food situation.
Ukraine and Russia have successively restricted wheat exports, India has directly closed grain export channels, followed closely by Thailand and the Philippines in Southeast Asia...
Countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo that rely on grain imports, grain procurement channels It became more and more monotonous and was tightly controlled by the four major grain merchants.
At this time, Jiahe, who can produce food, is undoubtedly a life-saving straw. Anyone who hinders the cooperation between the two will be temporarily crushed.
Guo Yang smiled and said: "Maybe we can control Eddie through seeds and grain in the future."
Yu Honghai said worriedly: "Boss, Eddie said that Robert Bila is the deputy leader. Mumba people, Mumba’s hometown is in Eastern Province, we should offend Vice President Mumba to death this time.”
“Is this going to offend us to death?” Guo Yang said in surprise: “We are not. Are you going to Kisangani if you promise to achieve results?"
Yu Honghai said: "No one is optimistic about Jiahe's project. They still believe in mining more than agriculture."
Guo Yang was silent for a moment and asked: "Whose person is Eddie?"
"Dependent on Kabila, but also very independent, equivalent to a local warlord in the Republic of China."< br>
“Sign it and sign it.” Guo Yang thought for a while and said: “Kinshasa and Matadi in Bas-Congo Province are both Kabila’s sphere of influence, and there is Edi in Equateur Province, at least in the early stage of the project. There is no problem.”
“That’s right, then I’ll organize people to start working on it right away?”
Guo Yang asked: “Do you know about agricultural planting management?”
"I don't understand."
"Then why are you anxious?"
Yu Honghai said seriously: "I want to complete the goal early and wait to get the dividends."
"You want to Figure out your position." Guo Yang was speechless, calmed down his thoughts, and said, "You are responsible for the entire Africa. In theory, the seeds, agricultural machinery, pesticides and other businesses are also dependent on you."
< br>“The Democratic Republic of the Congo is the first project and the most important, but the specific planting management business can be managed by professional managers.”
"So, the most important thing now is to plan and implement the park, the second is to recruit people, and the third is to wait for the food to be in place."
Yu Honghai said thoughtfully: "The planning can be left to the Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences , Recruitment is currently on holiday in China..."
Guo Yang said with a smile: "The recruitment can also be left to the Academy of Sciences and Dadi Company."
"What else can I do?"< br>
“Play?”
"What fun is there? Is it possible to hunt lions?" Yu Honghai pondered for a while, "How about I sell agricultural machinery?"
(End of Chapter)