African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 1211: Chapter 220: Far East Personnel

On the same day the Australian personnel arrived in Dar es Salaam City, both official and civilian personnel from the Far East Empire also successfully reached here.

”That must be the Civilization Lighthouse! I heard it’s the iconic building of Dar es Salaam City, we should have arrived at our destination.”

”Is this Dar es Salaam City? It truly deserves its reputation as the most powerful country on the Indian Ocean Coast.”

”Just by looking at the city’s silhouette from afar, one can see the distinction of this East African country. I heard that the distance between Mombasa and Dar es Salaam City isn’t great.”

The personnel from the Far East Empire were full of admiration as they disembarked, declaring Dar es Salaam City as the most developed city they have encountered on their journey.

Although countries like Southeast Asia and India have some sizable cities, their urban development is considerably chaotic with slums rampant, clearly Dar es Salaam City is not like this.

The entire city district is a harmonious blend of modern and traditional architecture, orderly planned, with people full of vitality, a vibrant market, and smooth operation of city rules, all of which are strikingly different from the Indian Ocean nations and even other Far East countries.

For many Far East Empire citizens, this was their first visit to East Africa, but unlike fifty years ago when Chinese immigrants were ”coaxed” over by East Africa, packed like sardines in ship cabins, the Far East Empire this time certainly would not understand East Africa as ”the barbarians of the small Western world coast.”

Since the South Africa War, East Africa naturally became a powerful influential nation on the international stage, so starting from 1890, many knowledgeable and ambitious people from the Far East Empire have traveled to East Africa to learn.

However, at that time, Ernst did not encourage this practice, as two decades earlier, although East Africa had defeated the United Kingdom and seemed formidable, on the African continent it was simply a case of no tigers in the mountains and monkeys proclaiming themselves as king.

Back then, East Africa’s economic conditions hadn’t even started widening the gap with Japan, and its industrial scale was only slightly better than the Far East Empire, with vast amounts of land within its territory yet to be effectively developed.

Even though industry had reached a certain scale, the technology content was low, apart from the basic establishment of the national defense industry, there were practically no medium or high-end industries, with most of the technology sourced from Europe or the Heixinggen consortium, typifying a ”knock-off industrial country.”

Hence, there was virtually nothing to learn from East Africa at that time; institutionally, East Africa was a backward and conservative feudal monarchy, ideologically, it was a desert for progressive thought, and economically, East Africa, which mainly had a non-free market, was far less economically active than Europe and America.

So apart from military affairs, there was little for East Africa to offer at the time, making the cost-effective choice for studying abroad to favor the contemporary Europe or America over East Africa.

Therefore, initially, the East African government did not support the Far East Empire government dispatching people to study in East Africa, but rather recommended them to study more in Germany or Austria-Hungary.

After all, the Far East Empire government was still the Qing Government at that time, and sharing the same feudal monarchy system, they did not oppose their own personnel studying in East Africa, but were surprised by the East African government’s rejection.

This situation changed at the beginning of this century. Starting in 1901, East Africa began formally enrolling the first batch of students from the Far East Empire, because by this time East Africa’s industries had formed a certain scale, with certain advantages in power, machinery and other industries, coupled with significant progress in scientific technology, and outstanding achievements in the field of education, with the construction of a batch of high-quality universities.

Coincidentally, it was during the initiation of East Africa’s First Five-Year Plan, which fast-tracked East Africa’s economic and industrial development and marked rapid expansion of railways, roads, cities, and more.

With this period, entering East Africa really meant there was much ”progressive” learning to be had, just considering East Africa’s ”Five-Year Plan.”

This distinctly different industrial development model compared to Europe and America evidently offers far-reaching thinkers from the Far East Empire different insights, breaking the industrial development mode’s ”only free market theory,” realizing that even without free market competition, industrial can still gain tremendous development, as East Africa’s industrial progress serves as a typical case.

Simultaneously, East Africa’s comprehensive planned economic design system also reflects institutional innovation, although last century East Africa was also a planned economy, due to low economic quality, it lacked persuasiveness.

But as the century entered its beginning, the situation clearly was improved; East Africa’s industrial development had reached an undeniable level, and at that time, East Africa’s industrial base was almost equal to many of the later developing moderate-level industrial countries, though this development still might not yet capture Europe and America’s attention, but it was entirely different in significance compared to the slow-developing Far East Empire.

Moreover, there were many aspects of East Africa in industrial and educational areas worth emulating by the Far East Empire.

Hence, in 1900, when the East African government formally opened up the student exchange channels for the Far East Empire, a massive influx of Chinese students came to East Africa for educational pursuits.

By 1915, the total number of students studying in East Africa from the Far East Empire had reached over seven thousand, a size second only to the volume of students heading to Japan, given Japan’s advantageous proximity to the Far East Empire.

A leading reason for this large number of students in East Africa was the moderate distance, cultural relevance, and minimal differences in dietary habits, among other reasons.

Among the Far East Empire students heading to East Africa, there was no doubt that those coming from Huaihai Economic Zone and Zhuhai Economic Zone accounted for the majority, with almost sixty percent of individuals originating from these two places, making East Africa the top study destination for the elite offspring of these regions, and East Africa would organize relevant exams to recruit talent from these places.

The personnel participating from the Far East Empire in this event were hosted by its own students studying in Dar es Salaam City.

The number of students from the Far East Empire studying in Dar es Salaam City reached over six hundred, second only to Mombasa.

Wang Hailong, the president of the Far East Empire student association at Dar es Salaam City University of Technology, and a current student there, volunteered to participate in this event.

”Commander Zhang, I didn’t expect the government would send you to East Africa to attend this East African World Exposition?” Wang Hailong exclaimed excitedly.

Commander Zhang: ”I actually resigned in April this year, so I’m merely a civilian and unworthy of the title of commander. This trip to East Africa is mainly to relax my mind, after all, I have interacted with East African merchants quite a bit before but never visited East Africa, so I’m rather curious.”

Wang Hailong: ”Commander Zhang, you are too modest, you are a well-known figure and as sharp as ever. I believe this visit to East Africa will leave you thoroughly satisfied.”

Without a doubt, Commander Zhang was once a significant figure in the Far East Empire government and had quite a reputation within the Far East Empire, so Wang Hailong held this elder in high regard.

However, Commander Zhang’s age was ultimately a concern, and having traveled across the ocean with its tumultuous journey, Wang Hailong dared not be careless.

”Commander, please get on the vehicle, this is the convoy arranged by the East African government. As a great power, East Africans have made considerable preparations, no need to worry about the expenses for this exposition, as most of the funding is provided by the East African Government.”

Though the Far East Empire was not the focal point of the East African government’s strategy this time, the treatment received was comparable in standards to nations like Brazil, India, Australia, and Argentina, with the East African government providing accommodation and transport for official personnel during the exposition.

Commander Zhang gazed at the Otto car in front of him with a complex feeling, as his ride in the Far East Empire was also an Otto. It was well-known that auto industry was a forte of East Africa, and he finally reached this world-class industrial power to ”learn.”

Far East Empire official personnel entered the vehicles and commenced their tour around Dar es Salaam City, while this city, a leading metropolis in the world, evidently captivated the Far East Empire personnel with considerable astonishment.

Though East Africa may not match the United States’ exaggerated skyscraper count, the stark contrast between Dar es Salaam University’s tall buildings and low-rise structures is rather more impactful, coupled with the city’s stunning number of cars and robust infrastructure, leaving everyone dazzled, as if living in a different world, even the most developed city in the Far East Empire pales significantly in comparison to Dar es Salaam City.