A Letter to Solonia

[Achkaerin]

To the Republic of Solonia,

It would appear that in recent times Achkaerin's focus on diplomatic relations further afield have led to the neglecting of relationships closer to home, this is something that Achkaerin has been in the process of correcting of late. We would therefore like to have our Vice-Consul visit your nation to set up diplomatic relations between us in the hope of a prosperous future for the people in our region of Mundus.

Signed



Emperor Peter Azurewind

[Phonx]

Rzeczpospolita Solońska
Republic of Solonia

Ministerstwo Spraw Zagranicznych
Ministry of Foreign Affairs

To Emperor Peter Azurewind,

The Republic of Solonia would be honoured to set up relations with such a prestigious nation as Achkaerin and we believe we share a common hope for prosperity in our regions future. President Gościsław Misiaszek has expressed interest in welcoming the Vice-Consul to Solonia and so he will do just that. I will also be there so I look forward to meeting with the Vice-Consul. I look forward to a strong relationship between our two nations.

Yours Sincerely,
Więcesław Bilski
Minister of Foreign Affairs

[Achkaerin]

It wasn't that long of a flight from Achkaerin to Solonia, not compared to some of the other flights that Achkaerinese representatives had taken over the years, compared to the seemingly frequent flights down to Ardia this was a simple hop by comparison. Vice Consul Rhian Kennedy was the lead representative on this visit, she led the Patriot Party which was the minority coalition partner in government with the Unity Party being the majority party, many tipped her for great things in the future. It was the first time she'd been the lead representative on something like this but she had a good support pillar in Achkaerin's Minister for Foreign Affairs Richard Chambers a more experienced hand in these matters. The pair knew the game plan, get a strong relationship with Solonia sorted out doing so would further lay the foundations for other things that were in the pipeline.

Stepping from the plane they made their way to the welcoming committee
"Vice Consul Rhian Kennedy" Rhian said introducing herself "This is Richard Chambers Minister of Foreign Affairs it's a pleasure to be here."

[Phonx]

President Gościsław Misiaszek shook Ms. Kennedy's hand and then Mr. Chambers'. "It's an honour to meet both of you, this is Mr. Bilski, the Minister of Foreign Affairs" he said. "Hello, lovely to meet you" Więcesław replied. "We will be heading to the Presidential Palace for the discussions, I hope that will be okay with you" added Więcesław. They then led the Achkaerinese diplomats to a car which had been sent and then they got in a separate car so the visiting group would not be uncomfortable. The cars then set off for the Presidential Palace escorted by the Police. On the way there the driver pointed out the many historical sites of Kazimierzawa to the Achkaerinese group so that they would get a little bit of a better understanding of the nations culture and history.

The cars arrived at the Palace and the driver opened the door for the visiting Achkaerinese dignitaries. The President and Minister of Foreign Affairs met them again and led them to the room they had set up. They were offered a drink if they wished to and were then given a seat at the table by the Presidential butler. "So. What do you wish to discuss first?" asked Minister Bilski.

[Achkaerin]

"Well it's quite simple really." Richard said "We always start with the basics so that's the ambassador stuff in terms of availability, our main focus for several reasons is organizing a trade agreement, something that will benefit both our countries not only now but in the long run as well. There may be other things as we progress but I'm sure we can deal with them in turn."

"The truth is that everyone is connected, every nation is connected in someway no one's an island." Rhian said "Sounds ironic coming from the Vice Consul of an island nation doesn't it? But it's true in building a relationship with you we take another step towards building a community around our neighborhood, this leads potentially to many options for the future.

But first things first the basics we normally suggest that if summoned by the host state that an ambassador presents themselves within twenty four hours of the summons. We also normally suggest that disputes be dealt with in private before they get plastered all over the front pages of the newspapers, though obviously there are exceptions for example the Andean Genocide was certainly one matter where a public response was required. These are the two things we propose as basic diplomatic positions but if you have others we'd certainly be interested."

[Phonx]

"Ah I see. Well I believe that setting up an embassy would be easy to do rather quickly and if need be we could always find a temporary home for an embassy until a more suitable building is found or built" said Mr. Bilski. "As for the trade deal that is something we are definitely interested in as we believe that working with a larger and more advanced economy such as Achkaerin would definitely be suitable to Solonia" he added.

"I would be able to greet the ambassador and accept them to our country as soon as they could be sent out to us" said President Misiaszek.

[Achkaerin]

"I'm sure such arrangements can be made quite quickly." Richard said "We'll be sure to have an ambassador sent out here within forty eight hours of any agreement we reach here, essentially ambassadorial relations can be in place very quickly."

"If that's satisfactory perhaps we could proceed to discuss a potential trading relationship." Rhian said

[Phonx]

"Well I am ready to move on to our trading relationship whenever you are" Mr. Bilski responded.

[Achkaerin]

"Well." Rhian said "What we're looking for is probably best described as an ambitious trade deal. But we're not reckless we'd be looking in the long term towards a potential free trade arrangement but phasing it in over time so as to give our respective economy's time to adapt to the change in circumstances, in confidence I'll tell you that the Emperor actually hopes that such an agreement can form the foundation of something much larger than what we initially propose. Though that's perhaps something for another time.

In general terms we'd like to discuss a phased lowering of tariffs over a period of time, how we encourage investment and cooperation between business's in our respective nations and how we can use this trade arrangement to our mutual benefit."

[Phonx]

"Hmmm...well that is something I would definitely agree to. I'm also glad to know it would be gradually phased in as I don't think that Solonia's current infrastructure could handle an immediate surge in demand due to increased economic activity. This way the government will have time to implement infrastructure projects" Bilski replied.

[Achkaerin]

This was going remarkably well so far and with nothing really controversial on the agenda it could only get better. Rhian glanced at Richard, they had the basics of a trade deal in place now to follow it up.

"One of the key things to such a trading relationship is to encourage business's to invest in our respective nations so what we'd to suggest is that a reward scheme be set up so for example let's say an Achkaerinese business set up shop in Solonia, they could get a reward whether it be a government grant, tax relief or some such thing for sourcing their product locally as in making it from local materials, employing a certain amount of their workforce locally and amount of product sold locally." Rhian said "It works out pretty well in that the company still makes its profit and our nations reap the rewards.

Tied in with this we could also promote a common grant scheme to projects in certain areas such as renewable energy, space exploration, medical research and the like. Though we'd like to restrict such things to civilian ventures only. There's also scope for expanding a scheme like this to university projects and small business's."

[Phonx]

"I do like these ideas however I am not sure about the rewards to foreign companies. I feel like it could provoke resentment amongst smaller Solonian businesses and things like that who could feel like the government is supporting big foreign companies, or even smaller ones, to take away their business and of course we would not want that" Mr. Bilski replied.

[Achkaerin]

"That depends entirely what the rewards are." Rhian said "Please don't confuse my previous explanation as a suggestion, it's more of an illustration. In truth what we would propose in terms of potential incentives for such business's would be quite different. For example Technology City in East Moreland uses the following:

*No business rates for 5 years
*Waiving of import/export duties for companies employing more than 400 East Moreland citizens
*50% discount on the use of Kings Institute of Science facilities.
*Fast Tract Work Visas for existing staff
*Reduced rates of tax for meeting set numbers of East Moreland citizens employed.

There are however certain conditions to being allowed to operate here.
*Companies must provide ten East Moreland students with at least three weeks worth of work experience each year.
*Companies based there will be expected to collaborate with at least one other company on at least one project every five years.


It's possible that we could apply this sort of scheme to this aspect whether that be in adapted or tweaked with format. But this something known to work there are many business's out in that city, in theory what we'd like to do is apply a version of this to our trading relationship as it would give companies incentives but also by tweaking one or two things we can ensure that the smaller business's can work well in harmony with big business."

[Phonx]

"Ah I see. Now that is much more acceptable to me. Is there anything else you'd like to discuss now we've got that cleared up?" Minister Bilski replied.

[Achkaerin]

"I guess we should probably discuss some aspects of cooperation, not in the military sense...yet. Our nations don't know each other well enough for that at this point." Rhian said "What I'd propose is that we discuss the grounds for things such as extradition, cooperation in combating crime and how we may build upon this over time.

Additionally we could consider some cultural events."

[Phonx]

"That would be fine by me. Solonia is willing to extradite any persons who try to avoid the Achkaerinese law enforcement by hiding away in our country, although we do presume the numbers are not too high in this moment in time" Bilski responded.

[Achkaerin]

"We hope that as well." Rhian said "Though we have started to see a slight increase in the number of Solonian's travelling to Achkaerin in recent months, this being in addition to the usual tourist trade." she looked across at Richard this had gone well so far and they'd almost covered all their points "We'd propose that we agree to share intelligence in regards to criminal and terrorist activities that may affect each other - for example if we came across a criminal operation with links to people in Solonia we'd inform you and ask you act on it. Also I'm aware I've been doing a lot of talking so before I say anything else allow me to ask - is there anything you'd like to discuss?"

[Phonx]

"I'm fine with intelligence sharing between our two countries. Also I think that everything I would've spoken has been covered."