Chapter 1203: Chapter 212: Grand Assembly of Southern Nations
Dar es Salaam City.
In October, Dar es Salaam City was adorned with lights and decorations for the World Expo, an event for which the city spared no effort.
Originally chaotic due to new economic policies, the urban appearance has now been completely revitalized under the city government’s governance.
Under the new economic policy, everything prioritizes economic development. To save costs, many of the burgeoning entrepreneurs and sole proprietors in East Africa choose to set up stalls in Dar es Salaam City. This saves on rent and other related expenses, and at the time, East Africa chose to turn a blind eye to this situation.
This situation put immense pressure on Dar es Salaam City’s sanitation, traffic, and security, compounded by the influx of foreign merchants, making chaos in the entire city inevitable.
However, with the upcoming World Expo, such conditions could not continue. With two months of governance, the order of the entire city seemed to have been restored overnight to the era of a completely planned economy.
"Mr. Pereira, welcome to East Africa!" said East Africa’s second Prince Kars. "We are delighted that the Brazilian government, as our friend, is eager to participate in the Dar es Salaam City World Expo."
Pereira is the representative sent by the Brazilian government this time, and Brazil is also one of East Africa’s most valued South American powers, although Argentina currently has great momentum in South America and is economically unmatched.
But compared to Brazil, its potential is ultimately limited; Brazil’s land alone is nearly three times that of Argentina, and although it hasn’t been effectively developed, this is precisely the type of partner East Africa hopes for.
If it were Argentina, it would be completely different. Because Argentina appears particularly "prosperous" on the surface today, they are less "pragmatic" than the Brazilian government when dealing with other countries.
Argentina even compares itself to some European countries, believing it to be prominent, as even many European countries are not as wealthy as Argentina today.
Therefore, in its interactions with East Africa, Argentina naturally assumes that both parties should have an equal relationship, as that is the attitude of countries like England and France towards Argentina.
Brazil is different, a typical "poor and backward" major country, which is the impression Brazil gives the world today. Years ago, East Africa’s external situation was almost similar.
Pereira was also surprised at East Africa’s grandiosity, unexpectedly saying to Kars: "I never thought your country would send a prince to preside over this East African Expo, which truly honors me."
Kars is East Africa’s second prince, quite eminent in status and position, given the Rhein Royal Family’s previous lack of members. It was only with the generation of Ernst that things changed, so Ernst gave heavy responsibilities to several princes in the royal family.
The princes did not shy away from helping Ernst, even participating in some administrative affairs. After all, in Ernst’s plans, apart from Crown Prince Friedrich, the other princes were to be enfeoffed overseas in the future, so not being familiar with governance was not acceptable.
With courteous eloquence, Kars said: "Mr. Pereira, you are too kind. Our East African government also places great emphasis on this World Expo, and every country invited was carefully selected. Hence, to join in this grand event, everyone needs to open up a bit more, for cooperation and win-win is the future main trend for our two countries’ relations."
In fact, excluding some special countries, this East African World Expo can entirely be called a "Southern Countries Expo."
"Southern countries" is actually a vague concept from the past for backward countries; many underdeveloped countries are concentrated in the southern hemisphere or the south of economically developed northern countries.
This is what Kars meant by "carefully selected" in his words. To engage Southern countries, East Africa has spent a lot of effort, inviting all it could, even paying extra to bring them to East Africa if they lacked funds.
For southern hemisphere countries or some special markets, like the Far East Empire and some Middle Eastern countries, East Africa even sent large numbers of personnel to offer one-on-one service, fearing their visit to Dar es Salaam might not provide a deep enough understanding of East Africa.
In total, East Africa invited forty-three countries and regions to participate, a considerable number, given many of these regions are colonies of some great countries, like India, Vietnam, and Australia.
Among them, British colonies were invited the most, as the Indian Ocean Coast is where most British colonies are found, like Egypt, Oman, and Aden, which are relatively small colonies or semi-colonies.
The countries and regions East Africa invited can be summarized by this logic, ordered by importance as Indian Ocean coastal countries and regions, southern hemisphere countries and regions, southern countries and regions.
Among these countries, Brazil, the Far East Empire, Australia, and India are particularly prominent because of their enormous size.
Prince Kars said to the Brazilian exhibitors: "I have other duties to attend to, so I cannot continue to accompany you. This is Vice Minister Rhodes from the Ministry of Commerce, and he will lead you in the following itinerary."
Kars has heavy tasks, having to receive personnel from almost every country and region later on, so he naturally couldn’t play nanny to the Brazilians.
Pereira naturally understood this point and wasn’t displeased, as merely meeting an East African prince was enough to satisfy him.
At this moment, Rhodes, the facilitator, stepped forward to communicate with the Brazilian exhibitors. He told Pereira: "We have prepared accommodation, vehicles, and dining services for your country."
"Your country’s accommodation is arranged at the Dongfang Hotel in Dar es Salaam City, one of the best places to stay in the city, with exclusive dining and beverages provided to ensure you all feel at home."
"We have also prepared dedicated vehicles and drivers for you. If you wish to go anywhere, simply inform the driver. Travel within Dar es Salaam City is very convenient."
With that, Rhodes led everyone to a fleet of government luxury cars and helped the Brazilian exhibitors with their luggage. The sight of these luxury cars alone left the Brazilian exhibitors immensely impressed, also feeling the sincerity from the East African government.
With the help of East African staff, their luggage was placed in the car trunks, and Rhodes invited Pereira to sit in the second car, with the lead car naturally opening the path.
There was still some distance from the landing site to the Dongfang Hotel, but even this journey left Pereira in awe.
He exclaimed to Rhodes: "I’ve been to many countries, including big cities like New York, London, and Paris, but I have never seen traffic as dense as in Dar es Salaam City."
On both sides of the convoy, cars whizzed past. In other countries, automobiles, rarely seen, seemed as common as cabbage in East Africa.
Seeing Pereira’s astonished expression, Rhodes, with some pride, asked: "Mr. Pereira, you’ve never been to East Africa, have you?"
Pereira nodded and said: "That’s right, I haven’t."
Rhodes said: "If you had been to East Africa, especially at the century’s beginning, you wouldn’t be so surprised, as we in East Africa, being the kingdom of automotive, have a car production rate far exceeding other countries’. Therefore, in East Africa, cars are not luxury items but are instead a daily necessity for many."
"Even ordinary people, after saving diligently for a few years, can amass enough money to buy a car. Currently, our country has over tens of millions of registered vehicles."
Rhodes’s words left Pereira astounded. Tens of millions—what a concept! It’s important to know that Brazil’s national population is only about thirty million.
Thus, through a simple statistic, Pereira gained a deep understanding of East Africa’s national strength, realizing that just the automotive industry in East Africa could rival Brazil’s entire national industry.
By 1914, the number of factories throughout Brazil was only a little over three thousand, which was roughly East Africa’s situation in the 1870s.
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