The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

Chapter 855 Everyone has his or her own needs
Of course, there is another obvious problem with the Mecca-Medina high-speed rail project, which is that the desert geological environment has problems such as weak roadbed.

Since the sand layer in the dune area is basically aeolian sand, the dry density in the natural state is generally around 1.4g/cm3, the wet density is generally around 1.5g/cm3, the natural moisture content is extremely low, between 1% and 5%, and it is composed of single, uniform and fine particles. The powder clay content is small, the permeability coefficient and specific surface area are large, the cohesion is weak, the looseness is strong, the water retention is poor, the water stability is strong, and it is difficult to bear weight directly. Not only will it cause difficulties in material transportation and large-scale mechanical equipment operations, but most conventional methods for roadbed reinforcement treatment are not applicable to dune roadbed treatment.

It can be said that Saudi Arabia plans to invest $600 billion in the Mecca-Meddi high-speed rail project because it feels that these problems are difficult to solve, and based on Saudi Arabia’s labor costs and material prices, $600 billion will only bring a very small profit.

In fact, Saudi Arabia does not have many options for high-speed rail.

In the world, only Japan, Germany, France and China have mastered the high-speed rail technology. Even the United States does not have the high-speed rail technology. The huge country does not have high-speed rail.

Saudi Arabia is certainly not without preparation. It has specially formed a team to go to Germany, France, Japan and China to experience riding the high-speed rail, and then tentatively inquire about the price.

In terms of user experience, China High-speed Railway is the best.

Moreover, the total mileage of China's high-speed railways is longer than that of Germany, France and Japan, with advanced and mature technology.

In terms of exploratory inquiries, Germany and France believe that the Mecca-Medina high-speed railway will cost US$1200 billion, while Japan believes it will cost US$1000 billion.

Only China had no objection to the US$600 billion offer.

When Liu Tao saw Prince Sultan take the initiative to mention the Mecca-Medina high-speed railway, a smile appeared on his face. He already knew in his heart that this high-speed railway project would undoubtedly fall on China.

That's not just the construction cost of 600 billion US dollars. Liu Tao also saw the purchase cost of high-speed trains, as well as the corresponding technical service fees, training fees, repair and maintenance fees, etc. Although these fees do not make much money at one time, they are long-term and can be a business that can last for decades.

As for the problems that the project needs to solve, as long as there are problems, there are ways to solve them.

All you need to do is take the time and put your heart into solving the problem, and you can solve it.

However, Liu Tao is not only planning the Mecca-Medina high-speed railway, but also the Riyadh subway in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia intends to build a subway and is currently planning the subway.

This aspect is naturally a piece of fat meat.

Not to mention a lot, Riyadh alone needs 6 to 8 high-speed railways, and the total investment involved is at least tens of billions of dollars.

Liu Tao needs more projects to support Panshan Group.

There will be some construction in the mainland, but the total investment in the mainland is strictly controlled, and the profit is small. It is really hard-earned money, and it is far less profitable than participating in engineering construction overseas.

Panshan Group's construction business is not entirely in China, but rather it has two legs, half in China and half abroad.

Overseas construction is mainly in Asia, Africa, Latin America, Southeast Asia and the South Asian subcontinent.

As for Europe and the United States, Panshan Group rarely participates.

Because these projects in Europe and the United States are often created by interest groups, it is not easy to snatch food from the mouths of other people's territory.

Unless there is cooperation, Panshan Group will work hard to build and make some money, and give more profits to other interest groups.

But outside of Europe and the United States, it’s different.

Even if it is a poor country, as long as there are valuable things and as long as they really want to build, Panshan Group will cooperate with them. It may not make money at the beginning, but it will make money in other aspects of development later.

For rich countries like Saudi Arabia, the profits from construction projects are huge.

Saudi Arabia believes that the $600 billion Mecca-Medina high-speed rail project will make almost no money, and even if it does, the profit will be very slim. However, for Panshan Group, the profit is huge.

As the trade volume in weapons continued to decline, it was difficult to purchase large amounts of weapons as in the past decade. Liu Tao began to shift his attention to engineering construction, commodity trade and other aspects.

We must pay close attention to both arms trade and civilian trade, and we must do both well.

For something like engineering, no matter how hard it is, as long as you can make money, you will do it.

Even if it doesn't make money, as long as it can provide its employees with opportunities to make money, it is not something that cannot be considered.

"Your Majesty, Your Royal Highness, and gentlemen, we agree to export high-end machine tools to you. If you need them, we can also provide you with five-axis machining centers." Liu Tao smiled and said, "As long as we have the production line you need, we can provide it to you."

"There are no problems with petrochemical equipment either!"

King Fahd and others looked at each other and immediately saw the benefits.

As expected, for cooperation in this area, we still have to rely on Panshan Group.

As long as you spend money, you can break down the door of Panshan Group. Panshan Group dares to sell anything it has.

In this closed-door meeting, everyone can say whatever they want without any scruples. Just say whatever you want directly. There will be no press conference, and there is no need for those complicated things.

Liu Tao seemed very frank, even though he was not optimistic about Saudi Arabia's industrialization.

Because Saudi Arabia has no industrial base.

Saudi Arabia is essentially a country made up of a federation of nomadic tribes.

Before being supported by Britain and breaking away from the Ottoman Empire, the Bedouins were a group of nomads who had not yet entered the era of agricultural civilization.

At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, Ibn Saud, the leader of the Saudi family, established diplomatic relations with most of the regions on the Arabian Peninsula after more than 20 years of tribal conquest wars under the banner of Wahhabi Islam. He finally established the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932 with the Saudi family as the ruling core.

The establishment of Saudi Arabia has a huge impact on the Arabian Peninsula. Since ancient times, the Arabian Peninsula has always lacked a form of practice that can be called a "national organization" or "national regime."

Even when Saudi Arabia was established, it was not a country in the modern sense, but a political system of religious and secular rule by the Saudi Arabian family. In the decades since the founding of Saudi Arabia, no matter how the regimes in other Middle Eastern countries changed or how the international situation changed, Saudi Arabia always maintained the traditional family-ruled political system and achieved the transition of royal power within the Saudi family in a stable political environment.

It’s not that Saudi Arabia has no internal conflicts, but because of the oil trade, the Saudi royal family has become increasingly wealthy and uses money to ease internal conflicts.

Especially in the past decade or so, the social welfare of Saudi citizens has been very high. With high social welfare, life is not hard. No matter what conflicts there are, they are not particularly sharp life-and-death conflicts and can be discussed and resolved.

In this situation, how should Saudi Arabia industrialize?
Light industry is not working, and heavy industry has no hope!

Saudis are willing to work in factories as workers! ?
Liu Tao didn't believe it!
(End of this chapter)