klisemfg Chapter 385 ASEAN Member States +2
Chapter 385 ASEAN Member States +2
"Do you have a satellite phone? Why not contact and ask now?" Wang Jixin looked at Mars expressionlessly and said in a cold tone.
When Mars heard this, his heart tightened, but he still forced himself to stay calm and nodded: "I brought it. Please wait, I'll contact you now." After saying that, he got up reluctantly and walked out of the venue, took out the satellite phone, took a deep breath and dialed the number.
The call was quickly connected, and a cold voice came from the other end: "Who is this?"
Mars quickly said, "Hello, I'm Mars, looking for the Prime Minister."
The other party was silent for a moment, then said: "Please wait."
After a while, Robert's deep voice came from the other end of the phone: "Go ahead."
Mars quickly recounted the details of what happened: "Prime Minister, I am at the ASEAN Leaders' Meeting right now. They proposed to build technical colleges in various countries to train technical workers for each country. Other countries agreed on the spot. I did not get authorization, so I did not agree. However, Wang Jixin asked me to contact you directly."
Robert listened to Mars' report, frowned slightly, and muttered to himself: "It seems that he is not very happy that I didn't go..."
However, he did not show it, but said calmly: "We can agree to build the college, as long as it is not a matter of principle. If other countries agree, you can agree directly. I will take care of the rest."
Mars felt relieved when he heard this, and responded repeatedly: "Okay, Prime Minister, I understand."
He now has the final say in Australia, so he never thought about following the normal procedures.
At this moment, Mars was attending a leaders' meeting, but the other party asked for clarification of relevant matters immediately. In his opinion, this was a test for them to see what their political environment was like.
Robert doesn't want to be looked down upon by ASEAN countries from the beginning.
However, after hanging up the phone, Robert couldn't help but sigh deeply.
While it is true that he can currently make many decisions on his own, bypassing Parliament, what will happen next?
It may be difficult for subsequent successors to do this, and Robert can't help but worry whether Australia will lag behind other countries in all aspects in the future.
But this political structure was so deeply entrenched that even he was powerless to change it.
After receiving clear instructions, Mars quickly tidied his clothes and walked into the venue again with firm steps.
This proposal was passed unanimously without any suspense, and the next step is to discuss the specific details.
Of course, these trivial tasks do not require the personal participation of leaders like them, as their subordinates are responsible for consultation and negotiation.
However, this is a project initiated by Nanhua after all, so other countries naturally do not have enough bargaining chips.
After many rounds of negotiations, the final decision was finally made: Nanhua will send various technical teachers and provide teaching materials and various mechanical teaching aids; while each country will be responsible for providing teaching land and bearing the school's operating expenses.
In addition, the graduation certificates issued by the school will be mutually recognized by all countries.
This result made Wang Jixin very satisfied, so he quickly began to promote the construction of the school after the meeting.
The news that South Indonesia and Australia formally joined ASEAN caused an uproar around the world.
The situation in southern Indonesia is still easy to deal with, but Australia, as a white country, has always been a member of Western society. It is really surprising that it now chooses to join an alliance organization dominated by the yellow race.
Many countries were shocked by this. Major newspapers reported on the incident in great detail and gave in-depth and detailed introductions and analyses of ASEAN and South China.
Other countries may just be watching the fun, but the United States is different.
They learned the results from the Philippines first and expressed extreme dissatisfaction with the establishment of radar stations and missile bases in Australia.
After learning that Australia was going to build a missile base, the White House immediately sent a diplomatic team to communicate with Robert, trying to get Australia to withdraw from the plan through diplomatic channels.
However, no matter what tempting conditions or promises the United States offered, Robert remained unmoved.
He firmly stated that Australia would continue to advance the construction of the missile base, but clearly assured the United States that the base would only be equipped with defensive weapons and would not be deployed with long-range ballistic missiles.
Although the United States was not satisfied with this response, it also felt helpless in the face of Australia's growing independence and close cooperation with ASEAN countries.
With Australia's joining ASEAN, its dependence on US oil and technology has been significantly reduced.
This has gradually strengthened Australia's voice in international affairs and it is no longer easily influenced by the United States.
This was also Robert's purpose for joining ASEAN, but he did not expect that the United States would not be so tough just after he joined.
For the Australian people, they were initially skeptical about the government's decision.
However, when a large number of mineral purchase orders and farm acquisition intentions from ASEAN countries poured into Australia, the country's originally sluggish economy quickly showed signs of recovery.
Especially those agricultural products and meat products that were once unsalable, due to the opening of the ASEAN market, these commodities quickly found sales channels and converted into profits.
At the same time, products such as computers, cars and various electrical appliances continue to flow into the Australian market, meeting the needs of local consumers.
Many Australians were surprised to find that they seemed to have become an ignorant and backward country overnight.
Most people were exposed to newfangled gadgets such as computers and electric cars for the first time.
Who could have expected that these high-tech products would come from those indigenous countries in Southeast Asia that were considered backward?
Farmers sold their cattle and sheep and used the proceeds to buy electric cars and computers.
At the same time, Southeast Asia's infrastructure construction plans are also open to Australia.
All kinds of machinery and equipment purchased with low-interest loans flooded into Australia.
People in the city have devoted themselves to various engineering projects, some participating in road construction, some participating in the construction of schools, factories, etc.
This enabled them to quickly transform from their previous life of hardship to one where they had no worries about food and clothing.
With the start of these projects and the sales of agricultural products, citizens' support for Robert rose again.
Among them, the construction speed of the airship airport is the fastest, because only a piece of land needs to be leveled for take-off and landing.
The arrival of these huge objects initially caused a lot of panic, but after repeated publicity in Australian newspapers and radio stations, chaos was finally avoided.
Before long, convenient and fast airships became their preferred means of transportation between Southeast Asian countries.
This convenient, efficient and low-cost means of transportation undoubtedly caught the attention of airlines.
So the airline company approached Nan Hua for a loan to purchase the airship. It was not that they had no money, but that they had no Singapore dollars.
After receiving this news, Wang Jixin issued instructions requiring Xincheng Bank to provide these airlines with corresponding loan support.
These loans are specifically used to purchase airships, but the final repayment must be made in Singapore dollars. New Town Bank does not accept US dollars or Australian dollars.
Faced with this situation, airlines quickly made adjustments in their operations: if passengers choose to pay for air tickets in Singapore dollars, they will enjoy direct discount policies, and sometimes even 50% off on tickets.
Over time, the SGD gradually replaced the USD in Australia and became a more acceptable form of currency for the general public.
After all, using the Singapore dollar makes it easy to buy all kinds of new and unique goods and services, which is even more convenient than using the Australian dollar.
The New Zealand dollar has gained a firm foothold in the Australian market and is gradually growing stronger.
As a result, Australia was forced to impose restrictions on the New Zealand dollar, and the existence of the New Zealand dollar even affected their own currency.
(I caught a cold and had a fever, so I wrote this chapter in a daze.)