Chapter 288 Important Automobile Manufacturing Industry

"Father, there are so many companies in Greece, and I have never seen you attach so much importance to a company. Why do you value Mr. Andros's machinery factory so much?" Prince George asked curiously.

In fact, there are many commercial institutions closely connected with the Greek royal family.

The first is the Royal Bank of Greece, which is controlled by the royal family and is one of the largest commercial banks in Greece.

Through this bank as a central medium, either by loan or direct investment, the Greek royal family has established interest relations with many companies.

For example, Tesla Power Group, Philip Pharmaceuticals, Greek Steel Plant, Athens Shipyard, etc.

The second is the Royal Greek Education Foundation, and the main work of the foundation has always been the responsibility of Crown Princess Sofia.

Although the main work of the foundation is nominally to provide funds for Greek education, over the years, as the scale of the foundation's investment has grown, the scale of the foundation has also expanded rapidly, and it has in fact become Greece's sovereign wealth fund.

Thanks to Sofia's efforts, the main source of funds for the foundation has changed from the annual allocation of funds by the original Congolese colonial government in accordance with the agreement reached with the Greek royal family to the current main source of funds being the income from the foundation's investment.

For example, the Royal Petroleum Company of Greece, not only did the Purple Robe Foundation participate in the investment, but also some of the shares were held by the Royal Education Foundation.

In addition, the Education Foundation has also invested in a large number of companies in Greece, especially some mining companies, such as lignite mines in Greece, some thermal power stations, copper mines, gold mines, rubber fields in the Congo region, etc.

The Royal Education Foundation is basically listed in the list of major shareholders of companies engaged in mineral mining and smelting in Albania, such as copper and nickel mining companies there.

At present, in addition to being responsible for most of the expenditures on Greek education, the funds held by the foundation have surplus funds for investment appreciation every year.

As for the Greek government, due to the fact that the Greek government's finances have been in a tight state in recent years, even after the tax reform, most of the funds have been invested in the rapidly expanding army, and it is unable to compete with the foundation for influence in the field of education.

In the words of Crown Princess Sofia, the beneficiaries of the foundation are all Greeks, and the mineral resources in Greece are originally the wealth of all Greeks. The foundation has a natural investment priority in reason.

Through the Royal Education Foundation and the Royal Bank of Greece, two commercial institutions, the royal family is involved with hundreds of Greek companies.

As Prince George said, apart from Tesla Power Group, no company has attracted Constantine's attention like Andros Machinery Factory.

The reason why Constantine pays special attention to these companies is simple. They are all emerging industries that have emerged with the development of the Second Industrial Revolution.

The good or bad development of them directly determines the future economy of Greece.

Throughout the world history since the great geographical discoveries, those countries that have risen to become world powers have directly grasped the pulse of the times and enjoyed the dividends bestowed by the times.

The first generation of hegemons, Spain and Portugal, led the Age of Exploration and reaped rich rewards from the Age of Exploration.

The two countries made money in a simple and crude way. Spain directly mined gold and silver mines in the New World, and with the power of one country, the silver of the whole world began to depreciate.

In contrast, Portugal's way of making a fortune is more technical, and it made a fortune through trade.

Portugal was the first to establish a trade network from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean and even Southeast Asia, such as the establishment of the colony of Macau.

The second generation hegemon, the Netherlands, eventually won the competition and became the "sea coachman".

The innovative financial system that the Dutch relied on.

Many people have had this idea: If everyone gives me one dollar, I will become a tycoon.

And the essence of stocks is like this, raising funds, concentrating on the development of enterprises, sharing profits and sharing risks.

The Dutch East India Company was the world's first joint-stock company established by issuing stocks.

It was precisely relying on the innovation of the Netherlands in the financial field that the Dutch maritime industry was developed to its peak.

The issuance of stocks, stock exchanges and other modern financial systems are the creations of the Dutch.

Amsterdam became the first generation of the world's financial center.

In addition to inheriting the modern financial system of the Netherlands, the world's maritime hegemon Britain (London became the new world financial center after Amsterdam) really made the British sit firmly on the position of maritime hegemony.

Newton, classical physics, steam engine, Jenny loom, train, ship, these well-known products of the world's first industrial revolution originated in Britain.

The reason why these hegemons were able to rise successfully, in addition to learning and imitating the former hegemons, inheriting the advantages of the former, and ultimately needing to have their own unique features.

Like the stock trading system of the Netherlands and the Industrial Revolution of Britain.

It is not enough to just follow the countries that lead the trend of the times and want to rise to the top.

The latecomers need to do better.

And now is the time when the Second Industrial Revolution is booming. Germany and the United States, relying on the spring breeze of the Second Industrial Revolution, have begun to expand rapidly and have the qualifications to challenge Britain's world hegemony.

Since the Industrial Revolution, the rise of a country is essentially the rise of its manufacturing industry.

The automobile industry is one of the most representative emerging industries of the Second Industrial Revolution.

Tesla Electric Company is currently the largest power company in Greece.

With the maturity of AC technology, the Royal Education Foundation has recently begun to invest in a power company in Macedonia, which is mainly responsible for the power supply there.

The most prominent features of the Second Industrial Revolution are internal combustion engines and electricity.

Since Greece's industrial development is severely limited by the lack of high-quality energy, Constantine can only make arrangements in the field of electricity.

Infrastructure construction such as power facilities is also easier to promote through administrative support.

For example, companies with interests related to the royal family took the lead in using AC as energy and demonstrated to other companies. After opening a breakthrough, Greece's power industry developed rapidly.

In fact, Greek companies do not have more choices.

Greece does not have high-quality coal, and the price of imported coal is high, so steam engines are naturally unpopular in the Greek industrial sector.

As for the field of internal combustion engines, it is more complicated.

Whether it is a car, a tractor, or a motorcycle, they are all consumer goods, and they need to directly face tens of millions of ordinary consumers, which makes the situation even more complicated.

This is like a country can easily produce a powerful atomic bomb, but it is impossible to build an excellent automobile manufacturing industry by the same method.

Constantine could not directly use political means to make cars that are popular with the public.

So, it is impossible to develop the country's industry by formulating a five-year plan.

In fact, even if the royal family is more influential in the economy, Greece is a capitalist country and the government does not directly control enterprises.

Private enterprises are aimed at profit first, not production volume. Except in wartime, the government has no right to force enterprises.

The government can only guide and promote. If the enterprise does not care at all, then the government can do nothing.

Just like the machinery factory in Andros, Constantine certainly hopes that Andros will produce more cars, preferably tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of cars per year, so that Greece's industry will be stronger.

But is this possible?

If it is produced and cannot be sold, who will be responsible for it? Who will pay the loss?

Therefore, only socialist countries can formulate national development plans such as the five-year plan, and capitalist countries cannot do this.

Therefore, Constantine could only rely on outstanding entrepreneurs like Andros to complete the Greek automobile industry. There was no other way.

Moreover, the automobile manufacturing industry was closely related to the military industry, such as tanks and aircraft.

In fact, the internal combustion engine used in automobiles can be used as the engine of piston aircraft with a little modification.