NationStates Jolt Archive

"Growth potential leaves Geronians hopeful."
By James Anderson, Staff Writer Caimen Daily

In an aggressive drive to attract new foreign capital, Financial Minister Shigeru Mizuyama has launched an ambitious new venture aimed at foreign governments and investors. This new plan, designated as the New Economic Expansion Plan (NEEP) is a program designed to boost Geronia's fledgling economy with the help of foreign governments.

The first step of the plan calls for foreign governments to invest in various private sector industries and even national programs (such as national defense). Governments who express interest in investing would be rewarded with key construction and expansion programs for their corporations and firms. Step Two calls for Geronian corporations to begin to manufacture goods on their own that are suitable for the international marketplace. Proponents of the plan point out that Geronia enjoys key advantages in its business-oriented politics and the legal checks placed on the political power of the labor unions.

In addition to expanding the fledgling private sector in Geronia, the plan also strengthens national defense, provides jobs for Geronian citizens, opens foreign relations with other countries, and provides trade and profit for Geronia's investor nations and trading partners.

Interested parties are asked to contact the foreign ministry. The Geronian foreign ministry is also interested in establishing full diplomatic relations with any interested nations.

---Un-Encoded Transmission---

To: Geronian Foreign Minister
From: The Council of Commerce, Fintlewoodle
Subject: Possible Investment
Message Reads: We, the Commerce Council of Fintlewoodle, are much interested in your offer of foreign investment into various private sectors. We are,, as always, looking to make a profit, as befits our nature as the Council of Commerce, and would like to inquire as to the possibilty of our own heavy investment into multiple sectors. These would include the;

- Bathtub and bathroom supplies sector (which has found unprecidented success in our own nation)
- Home Video Recorder sales, Television sales, and movie industries
- Private Security Corporations

These Industries have all found success in one form or another here, and we hope this same prospect plays out where we are making our investment. We have considerable funds with which to manage this endevour, the ammount we are willing to invest will be disclosed secretly, once you have recived this messsage. We hope we can further relations between our two great nations,

Good Day,
Number One



---Encoded Transmission---

To: Geronian Foreign Minister
From: Commercial Council Investment Operations Head
Subject: Ammount Invested
Message Reads: We are prepared to invest up to $675,471,296 leafs, our native currency, in your nations private sectors outlined in the previous message. This should translate into $844,399,120 USD. We wish you and your private sector well,

Good Day,
Number Four

OOC: If you have ever read or listened to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galexy then some of this might make some more sense to you, particularly the industries I chose to invest in.

We would be more than happy to accept the generous economic provisions outlined in your message and warmly express our deepest thanks at your interest in expanding Geronia's private sector. Your companies will be given priority in these fields and in addition will be invited to set up manufacturing plants and corporate offiices in Geronia.

At your convenience we would also like to establish formal diplomatic relations with you. After all, business propositions are naught but dreams and hopes, but national friendship is an unbreakable bond.

We hope to see many prosperous years with you as a business partner.

Shigeru Mizuyama
Minister of Finance

Yoshio Takanobu
Foreign Minister

---Un-Encoded Transmission---

To: Yoshio Takanobu
From: Council of Commerce
Subject: Buisness Partners
Message Reads: The Commercial Council of Fintlewoodle gladly accepts your promises of a powerful buisness allience, and of mutual friendship between our two nations. In regards to your offer, We, The Commerial Council, will be establishing seven seperate corporate offices in your own nation, one office for each member of the council's own corporation, as well as one larger office whic will serve as a diplomatic hall, or embassy, to further diplomatic relations.

We will be bringing in our own pre-fabricated eight story office building for thsese offices, one story for each corporation, with the top floor being the embassy. The Embassy will have no guards, as it were, but will be staffed by security agents in the pay of each of the seven corporations. This will be sufficient for security, and as for the rest of the staff, they should number between 150 and 300 men and women to fill the desk jobs such an office would require.

We hope this is acceptible, and we hope this leads to new buisness oppertunities in the future, for both of our peoples.

Good Day,
Number One

OOC: The Bathist Monarchy of Fintlewoodle is, essentialy, one giant corporation, with the Council of Commerce as its board of directors. Fintleoodle is lead by Number One, but he is advised by a council of six other men, every single one of which, Number One included, is the sole owner of one of the seven largest corporations in Fintlewoodle. They run the country like a buisness, and everyone in the country knows and accepts, while spending their whole lives to further the common goal of being richer than your neighbor. The Council of Commerce buisnessmen are supported by a host of less important, but still richer that anyone should ever be, CEOs and stock owners, who make up the government of the forty-two administrative divisions of the Monarchy. Just a bit of info..

Flintlewoodle embassy and corporate offices open for business
By Jiro Tanaka, Kanazawa Mainichi Shimbun

In a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new Flintlewoodle Embassy in Kanazawa, President Edward Choi expressed hope for the new relations between the two countries as well as extolling the benefits that are being brought to Geronia. Geronian employees of the Flintlewoodle corporations were especially held up as being the cornerstone that the future Geronian economy would rest on.

"For the first time Geronians can take pride in knowing that they are part of a growing and thriving international marketplace," proclaimed the president during a riveting speech in front of the the Flintlewoodle Embassy. "The employees you see before you are not only bettering their own future, they are bettering Geronia's!"

The Flintlewoodle Embassy/Corporate offices are located on International Avenue.

OOC: While Caimen (pronounced Khy-men) is the political capital of Geronia, the Flintlewoodle Embassy is located in the commerically oriented city of Kanazawa in order to provide closer proximity to other commercial offices. Such is the practice in Geronia as many corporations prefer to be closer to their business operations.

The Council of Commerse member, and executive of the Magter Inc. terraforming company, Number Seven, arrived just after the ceremony was finished, and his new building was opened up. He was surrounded during his walk form the airport to the offices by a cadre of his highest-ranking buisness men and executives, all of whom were chattering about opputunites to open new markets, new marketing strategies to implement to catch the eye of these new foreigners, what the new companies will be selling, and where they should have lunch. Number Seven was not listening to any of it however, he was thinking now only of what he had been instructed to do here.

He was to be the regional Corporate Exeutive Officer for thie entire nation. This was not expected to be an especcialy hard job, as Fintlewoodle accualy owned no companies here, yet, but it was made more difficult by the orders from the council to fix that problem. He was supposed to speadhead a new marketing campaign, and bring in offices for dozens of larger Fintlewoodle buisnesses that were asking for the territory he was now in charge of. This would be fun.. he though to himself as he walked out of the airport terminal.

All he wanted right now was an asprin and a seventeen-hour nap, but before he could achive either of thise things he had to send a message to the Foreign Affairs minister of this nation, he forgot the name, but he didn't care, he just wanted to get it over with. Turning the corner onto International street, he spotted his building, and he sped up his walk, eager to be free of the constant bombardment of his lackeys.

Once he reached his offices on the first floor of the new building he dismissed his corporate followers, claiming he had a video-conference with the rest of the council in a few miniutes and had to prepare. As soon as they were gone was ran back down the seemingly longer hallway into his office and locked the door.

Taking assurance in the fact that he was now safe, if only for a few hours, he grabbed his laptop of ouf his breifcase and sat down on the couch that his office had been furnished with. Taking a few deep breaths, and an asprin he found in his desk, he began his message to the Foreign Affairs minister...

---Encodeded Message---

To: Foreign Affairs Minister, Geronia
From: Number Seven, Geronian Offices
Sebject: Further Investment
Message Reads: I have been instructed to ask of you that we, the Council of Commerce, invest further in the already-Fintlewoodian stimulated private sector of your nation. We propose that we invest in the

- Lawn and Garden Industries, as well as Terraforming companies (one of which my own corporation is)
- Arms Manufacturing and National Defence Industries

Various members of my Council have voiced a will to expand into these areas, and I was sent here to ask this of you. We will be Investing a total of $811,000, which will translate into $1,013,750 more USD flowing through your fledgling economy. This action will be followed by the establishment of several more Fintlewoodian offices and thee importing of almost a half-dozen new buisnesses, which should firther stimulate the economy, as well as provide jobs, most notabley in the industries that we have been investing in.

Please note, our companies will ne in no way competing against any of your own, as it would simply be bad buisness to invest in a corporation you intend to compete with.

Good Day,
Number Seven

"I'll take the message for Foreign Minister Takanobu," smiled Financial Minister Mizuyama as he walked into his political office in Kanazawa. At a youthful thirty-two he was Minister Takanobu's protege and was also Geronia's poster boy for its economy. A handsome man with an impressive education (an BA from Caimen University and an MBA from Kanazawa Business School) he was groomed to take the top slot in the government primarily because he was a charismatic man who got things done.

He checked his watch. It would be just past noon in Karlimina where Foreign Minister Takanobu was meeting with Krakinheds officials. Unfortunately that also meant that he was not in his office to receive the message from the Flintlewoodle executive officer, but it didn't matter. This was a state financial matter now anyways.

Scanning the message, he smiled. Yet more investment was coming his way, the markets would react predictably and business between Geronia and Flintlewoodle would become better yet. This was a win-win situation for all involved.

Swiveling in his chair, he quickly typed out a message of thanks.

To: Number Seven, Regional Executive Officer, Flintlewoodle Council of Commerce
From: Shigeru Mizuyama, Geronian Financial Minister
Subject: RE:Further Investment

On behalf of President Edward Choi and the Geronian government, I would like to heartily accept your offers of investments into the following private sectors:

- Lawn and Garden Industries
- Arms Manufacturing and National Defence Industries
- Terraforming

As a result, I am instructed to offer your firms first priority on the following contracts within Geronia.

- Terraforming and construction in the Shinseido Valley Region
- Small arms manufacture (rifles, sidearms, support weapons) for the Geronian Armed Forces

I look forward to continued prosperity and commerce between our two nations.

Shigeru Mizuyama
Geronian Financial Minister

By the time the Geronian response arrived at the offices of Number Seven, he had falled asleep on his couch, and had been that way for about fifteen miniutes. In that time his aides ahd discovered that he was not, as he told them he was, in a conference with teh Council if Commerce, and they had trakced him back to his office, where they found him slumped over his computer where the Geronian reply had popped up, asleep. They carefully moved him asside and formulated a response.

---Un-Encoded Transmission---

To: Shigeru Mizuyama, Geronian Financial Minister
From: Offices of Magter Inc.
Subject: Contracts
Message Reads: Number Seven is currently in a meeting and cannot respond to your message, but we belive that we speak for him, as well as for the interestes of the entire Magter corporate family when we say that we accept your contract for the Terraforming of the Shinseido Valley Region.

Our equipment is now being flown in, and we will begin work in a matter of weeks. We will require a print of the proposed look of the valley region, and it will take a few days of surveying the location, but we are confident that it will be a literally groundbreaking effort between our two peoples.

As for the small arms contracts, you will have to contact the offices of Number Two's Dominion Systems, where he manufactures all of the Monarchies personal weapons. He should be perfectly able to produce what you are looking for.

We here at Magter Inc. hope that this will lead the way into a new future between our two nations, and we hope to be at the forefront of that future,

Good Day,
Offices of Magter Inc.

"Excellent," smiled Mizuyama, watching the reply pop up on his screen. He savored his second gin and tonic, letting the alcohol flow through him as he looked out the large and impressive picture window at the skyline of Kanazawa.

Like most of the financial advisors and business officials within the government, Mizuyama was closely linked to big business; in fact he was a CFO for Kazama Corporation, a company that had begun as a furniture restoration company, but was now splintering off into various areas of investment including television and the defense industry. While Kazama Corporation could be in essence considered a competitor to its larger Flintlewoodle cousins, the operations of the company were structured so as to not interfere or conflict with the interests of the Flintlewoodle corporations. Kazama Corporation still turned a modest profit, but mostly under the radar of the larger companies that were helping to modernize Geronia's economy. This was the way of things.

"And this is how I hope they stay for a long time," he thought, taking another draught of gin.