Chapter 636 Business Development Goals
Indonesia is a hub connecting the Pacific and Indian Oceans and Asia and Oceania, and is an important channel for entering and exiting the South China Sea.
In today's global trade, Indonesia has many islands, is far away from the mainland, has rich marine resources, and is located on the central axis between the global energy center, the Middle East, and the global emerging economic zone. The strategic importance of Indonesia can be imagined.
The Soviet Union and the United States once competed in Indonesia, but unfortunately they were suppressed by the military strongman Suharto, who has always held power.
Since then, Suharto's "New Order" has been supported by the US government.
Liu Tao has no way to deal with such a military strongman.
Indonesia has rich natural resources, coal resources are very rich, and there are huge reserves of natural gas and oil.
After the outbreak of the "Iran-Iraq Ship Raid War", oil from Indonesia became the main source of Singapore's refinery.
Panshan Group's largest business in Indonesia is not to invest in minerals, ports, etc., but security companies. It has opened a security company there to provide security services for Chinese tycoons.
As for the others, it seems out of reach.
Moreover, although there are many Chinese people there, they are mainly engaged in business and are relatively wealthy, but they do not pay attention to armed forces.
In Liu Tao's opinion, it is undoubtedly equivalent to a child walking on the street with gold bricks in his arms. It is hard to make people not commit crimes.
And there are about 12 million Chinese in Indonesia!
Liu Tao looked at Afghanistan. There is no need to say much about the strategic position of Afghanistan. Anyone who wants to become a world hegemon will not want to control Afghanistan, a strategic location.
If the Soviet Union controls Afghanistan, it will not be far from opening up the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean from land. The straight-line distance on land is less than 500 kilometers. Once the Soviet Union opens up a channel to the Indian Ocean from land, the Soviet Navy will become a world-class navy.
If the United States controls Afghanistan, it is equivalent to controlling the heart of Central Asia.
Afghanistan is adjacent to China in the east, Persia in the west, South Asia in the south, and the Soviet Union in the north. Isn't it a place of prosperity of civilization.
In the past, the British Empire used troops in Afghanistan several times in order to keep the jewel in the Queen's crown-India, but unfortunately all ended in failure. The Soviet Union had to go south to the Indian Ocean, and Afghanistan was a must-go place, so the Soviet Union launched the Afghan War, but it eventually failed.
In the original time and space, the United States fought for 20 years to control this strategic location, but eventually had to withdraw its troops.
Afghanistan is a place with a very important strategic position, but there is no main ethnic group here, and it is difficult to form a strong centralized power. Therefore, chaos and fighting have become the norm, and it is more vulnerable to foreign invasion. The invaders are all powerful, but it is difficult to conquer them. They also declined because of the large amount of manpower, material resources and financial resources consumed by the use of troops. Therefore, it is a veritable "graveyard of empires".
These powerful countries have no way to control this place, and Liu Tao naturally has no way.
Even the arms business is rarely done.
Afghanistan is also very barren, with many mountains in the country. Plateaus and mountains account for 4/5 of the country's area, and it is extremely dry, with an arid and semi-arid climate. Agricultural production is not even enough to feed the entire population of Afghanistan. Afghanistan is rich in mineral resources, but it is very difficult to develop, and transportation is a huge difficulty.
Even Liu Tao could only shake his head when he saw it.
At least with China's current national strength, it is not enough to have much influence here.
Investing in this place is probably like throwing meat buns at dogs, and there is no return.
Looking at Iran and Iraq, with the five permanent members sending escort formations to the Persian Gulf for escort, the safety of navigation has been greatly improved. Although there will still be merchant ships attacked, the number is far less than before.
Liu Tao already has a hunch that the Iran-Iraq War will not last too long. Both sides are beginning to contact and negotiate.
Once conditions acceptable to both sides are reached, the Iran-Iraq War will stop.
However, even if the Iran-Iraq War stops and the two sides sign a peace agreement, both Iraq and Persia will strengthen their military construction to guard against each other, so as not to be caught off guard by an attack from the other side.
This means that even if the Iran-Iraq War is over, there will still be orders here in the short term.
Liu Tao looked at Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries. These oil-producing countries in the Middle East have made a lot of money and become rich since the first oil crisis.
Where is the best social welfare in the world now?
It's not the United States, not Europe, but the oil-producing countries in the Middle East.
It was only after the outbreak of the "Iran-Iraq Ship Attack War" that these countries suddenly realized that they were unsafe and needed to increase military investment. This was also the main force for Liu Tao to win orders in the past year.
Liu Tao touched his chin. These oil-producing countries in the Middle East still have great potential to be tapped.
These Middle Eastern tycoons are not short of money, and the royal family lives a luxurious life.
Although in recent years, in addition to the export of weapons and equipment and the trade of civilian industrial products, the most common thing in Panshan Group here is mercenaries, or security companies.
Six security companies, with a total of 25,000 people, all of whom are retired soldiers.
These security companies do work on the edge of a knife, which is more dangerous, but the pay is also high.
Liu Tao feels it is necessary to speed up the business development here.
Whether it is the trade of military products or civilian trade, it is worth increasing business development efforts.
Tanks and armored vehicles, luxury cars, private jets. These are all no problem at all.
If there is any place worth increasing development efforts, it is not Latin America. Latin America is too far from heaven and too close to the United States. The influence of the United States in Latin America is too great.
Liu Tao stared at Africa.
In recent years, Panshan Group has made great efforts in the development of Africa. It has carried out various cooperation with several friendly countries, including weapons and equipment, military training, military talent training, etc., and of course, it also includes the construction of railways, roads, mining sites, etc.
In less than ten years, several countries such as Tanzania have undergone very big changes.
However, there is also a big problem in Africa. Europe has a great influence here, and its power is very large. The Soviet Union and the United States have also invested a lot of energy here, competing for this place.
There are wars almost every day in Africa, and the wars and turmoil have never stopped.
In the final analysis, it is all a game of three forces.
Many countries seem independent, but in fact they are deeply influenced by their own colonial masters. For example, France has strong power and influence in African countries such as Niger and Côte d'Ivoire. Even the currencies of many countries are issued by French banks. The currencies of these countries are even anchored to the franc. Moreover, these countries must deposit 65% of the deposits they absorb as reserves into the French treasury every year.