Go back in time and be a chaebol

Chapter 1728: So-so, Third on Blue Star (Second update, please subscribe)

"Babbitt has returned from Moscow!"

After Kader prepared this week's security and defense report, he looked at his assistant Simon and said:
"We need to find out as soon as possible what agreement he reached with the Russians in Moscow."

"Babbitt" is the code name given to Li Yian by the US Representative Office. It comes from the novel "Babbitt", whose protagonist is a businessman.

"Yes, head."

Simon nodded and said:
"I'll take care of this as soon as possible."

They chatted for a while, and then Kader sent his assistant Simon back to his office to prepare materials. Simon locked himself in the office and began to organize various charts to be projected on the screen using a reflector slide projector.

"Oh, it's not that easy!"

At this time, Ned interrupted and said:
"what?"

Pointing at the chart projected on the projector, Simon said in a surprised tone:
"Look, $2193 billion!"

Ned glanced at the chart and said:

"Oh, it's their gross national product last year!"

From the PPT slide projected on the screen, you can clearly see the GDP of sEA last year, and the rose chart also shows the structural composition of its national production organization.

This is certainly not confidential information, but data just released by our Ministry of International Trade and Industry a month ago.

Ned seemed very calm and said lightly:
"It seems that Germany has been left far behind!"

Simon glanced at the materials on the table and said:

"They surpassed Germany a few years ago. Germany's GDP last year was $1505.27 billion. The gap between them is nearly 50%!"

"And us?"

"Ours last year was 8796.20 billion US dollars! According to the data, their gross national product is almost 25% of ours!"

Simon pressed the remote control in his hand, and the slide projector automatically played the next picture. Then he looked at the PPT and said:

“Look, this is a comparison between countries.”

"United States: $8796.20 billion"

"SEA: $2193.45 billion"

"Germany: $1505.27 billion"

"France: $1187.51 billion"

"United Kingdom: $1171.17 billion"

"Italy: $844.02 billion"

"Todai: US$728.81 billion..."

Looking at these data on the chart, Ned's brows raised slightly, and his expression became a little serious. The reason was that next to these data, there was also last year's data.

“Their growth rate is very high!”

Simon nodded and said:
“Yes, their growth rate is the highest in the world!”

Simon looked at the numbers on the chart, lit a cigarette, and said:

"And in the next few years, their growth rate will be even higher. Perhaps, soon, they will surpass the Soviet Union, because they now have more and more young people. Children born between 46 and 50 have grown up, and their consumption potential is very large."

As a 30-year-old young man, Simon naturally knew the spending power of young people. He took a puff of cigarette and looked at the picture on the screen. He said:

"In two years, they will get married and have children, and then a new baby boom will emerge here. While our economic growth is in the single digits, theirs will maintain double-digit growth. At this growth rate, maybe in ten years, their GDP will exceed ours, or even approach ours!"

"is it possible?"

Ned said with some doubt:
"That's unlikely...they only have a population of 100 million, and their territory is so small."

"Twenty-three years ago, there were only a little over a million of them!"

This sentence stunned Ned. He opened his mouth but couldn't say anything for a long time. Simon used the slide projector remote control to play the next PPT and then said:
"Their oil production is not worth mentioning. Until now, their production has barely reached 1000 million tons! 1012 million tons."

“That’s because their overseas oil fields are highly productive.”

Ned said:

"The oil fields owned by their oil companies in the Gulf, Iraq, Kuwait and Iran in the Middle East have already produced more than 600 million tons, and the oil fields in Libya that they solely own have produced more than 100 million tons!

They directly control more than 400 million tons of oil. With these overseas oil, they naturally don't need to extract much oil in their own land. After all, oil in the Middle East is cheaper and of better quality. "Ned walked to the screen and pointed to the data on it and said:
"Look at steel. Last year, their steel production exceeded 8000 million tons."

"8075 million tons! The third largest in the world. The United States' steel production is 11540 million tons, and the Soviet Union's steel production is 10222.4 million tons. They..."

Simon, smoking a cigarette, frowned and said in a sarcastic tone:

"Many of their current industrial indicators are only slightly behind those of the Soviet Union, but they are still crying poor!"

"Yes, crying poor! This is the biggest characteristic of SEA. I remember a few years ago, their diplomatic representatives declared in Washington that SEA is an extremely backward economy. Their population structure is unreasonable, with too many children. In order to provide lunch for these children and ensure their nutrition, they need to spend a lot of money. Raising children is also a big burden for the people, so their economy is very difficult."

The reason why Ned remembered all this was that after graduating from college, he had been working as an intern at the Foreign Affairs Committee on Capitol Hill, so he witnessed how SEA diplomats cried poor. However, they were not begging for food, but standing there telling the United States - don't let me bear the burden of any free world missions anymore, our economy is really not easy.

Those on Capitol Hill repeatedly urged SEA to assume the "responsibility of a member of the free world" - to increase military spending and strengthen defense capabilities. In the end, SEA diplomats even had disputes with senior officials in Washington because the gap in interests between the two sides was too large.

"You have the ocean, we have the sea. In Asia, no one can cross the sea to attack us!"

"The Soviet threat is real!"

"Their navy is no threat to us..."

The core of the dispute between the two sides is that SEA is unwilling to expand its armaments, while Washington wants them to expand their armaments. Even the "Borneo" aircraft carrier was built at the strong request of Washington.

"That's why they say that for every aircraft carrier they build, the economy will be bad for three years!"

Simon thought for a moment and said in a sarcastic tone:

"It's very difficult, third in the world..."

He pointed to the numbers on the chart and said with a smile:
"The third person in the world who is very good at crying poor."

"Last year we produced 1000 million cars, they produced 370 million..."

When Ned mentioned the car, Simon looked at the chart and said:

"They will soon surpass us as the world's number one automobile nation, probably within five years."

"So fast?"

"Yes, because of demand. In the next few years, there will be millions of people growing up who will need cars. Last year, they only exported 190 million cars, while they sold 230 million cars domestically. But two years ago..."

Simon picked up a report on the table and said:
"Two years ago, they exported 200 million vehicles. Their exports are falling because domestic sales are rising, and at a very fast pace."

"Because of the generation born after the war?"

"Yes, if it weren't for the fact that their schools are very close to the community and there are school buses, local sales would have definitely increased a few years ago. Now it's just been delayed for a year or two. After all, people go to college after they turn 18, and when they go to college, they naturally need a car."

"So, their auto companies need to expand their production capacity. After all, both domestic and foreign markets need to be satisfied."

After hearing what Simon said, Ned thought for a moment and said:
"We should send this message to Detroit, they need to take advantage of their opportunity."

"Yes, they need to seize the opportunity. At least in the next ten years, there will be a need for at least several million cars every year. With 6000 to million people coming of age, they will need at least million cars..."

Just hearing this number, Ned couldn't help but cross himself.

"my Lord!"

This number is really astonishing. With six to seven million cars sold each year, this is definitely the largest market in the world besides the United States.

In fact, SEA is now the world's largest automobile market outside the United States. Although SEA's automobile companies export nearly 200 million vehicles abroad each year, domestic sales are also very large. Since two years ago, domestic sales have exceeded exports.

“If our car companies can seize the opportunity, this may be the biggest opportunity ever.”

As Ned was imagining this future and considering whether to buy the car company's stock, he suddenly seemed to have thought of something and said while looking at the chart:

"My God, that means that in the next five years, SEA will definitely surpass the Soviet Union and become the second largest in the world."

Nodding, Simon said seriously:

"This is inevitable. Although the Soviet Union does not conduct statistics on its gross national product, our intelligence personnel have analyzed their industrial index and other data and concluded that their gross national product should be around $3500 billion. Of course, some people believe that it may be $5000 billion. After all, their economic model is different from ours, and there will be deviations in the calculation method. However, at this rate of development, in four years at most, China will surpass the Soviet Union and become the world's second largest economic power."

When saying this, Simon deliberately emphasized the word "second", as if to remind Ned - they will become the second in the world in four years!
Faced with such a reminder, Ned thought for a moment, then said:

"Luckily they're not Russian!"

The seemingly light words made Simon fall into silence. After a long while, he said:

"Yes, the only thing we can be thankful for is that they are on our side, not the Russians'."

(End of this chapter)