Lodamun

[imperialpearl]

Following months of backroom negotiations between the two states, Lodamun and Dorvik signed a free trade agreement earlier this morning, which could open the door for greater Lodamese involvement with the economies of the Artanian continent. The agreement, as mentioned previously, represents the culmination of months of negotiations between officials from the Dorvish Government and the Harrington Company. The agreement represents the first major trade agreement between Lodamun and an Artanian state since the initial fallout between Luthori and Lodamun on the Commonwealth framework. Prior to the commencement of negotiations on the treaty’s terms, then Merchant-General Hector Garza noted that it was important for Lodamun and Dorvik to reset their trading relationship recognising the “new dynamic”. His comments were ultimately set against the backdrop of the easing of tariffs and other restrictions against Dorvish goods and services in the Lodamese market. Following the nation’s collapse from geopolitical supremacy on the continent, the Harrington Company erected numerous tariffs and trade restrictions on Dorvish products, pointing to the noticeable decline in quality and the rise in dumping by the nation’s successive unstable political governments.

 Farr's initial meeting with his Dorvish counterpart sought to reverse much of the restrictions imposed on Dorvish goods, therein clearing the way for a renegotiation of Lodamun’s relationship with Dorvik. Prior to the nation’s economically devastating political crisis, Dorvik stood as one of Lodamun’s major import and export markets, with the Harrington Company importing some 15% of all energy imports (be it crude oil and/or natural gas) from Dorvik ports/terminals. The collapse in industrial output within the nation alongside numerous snubs at the hands of the nation’s previous caretaker governments (and their refusal to renegotiate agreements), ultimately led to the collapse of the long-term supply agreements between the Harrington Company and the nation’s state-owned energy company (Insert). In the absence of Dorvish energy imports, Lodamun turned to other states throughout the world including Hutori, Lourenne/Kalistan, Kafuristan, Trigunia and Aldegar. Amidst the return of competent leadership to the halls of power in Haldor, it became incumbent on the Harrington Company to reset Lodamun’s trading relationship with Dorvik, recognising its yeoman and earnest attempts towards re-establishing itself as an economic heavyweight on the Artanian continent.

In plain terms, the Lodamese-Dorvish Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement follows the established structure of Lodamun’s broad-based model treaties and thus lies as a bilateral agreement. The removal of tariffs and trade barriers on numerous Dorvish goods and services including energy (oil and gas), automotive, defence products/material and banking/finance could become a major boon between the two states and may stimulate demand within Dorvik itself. Since the political crisis, Lodamun have become a major consumer economy on the world stage, particularly in the energy market owing to Berkwaki’s ever-expanding downstream petrochemicals industry. A removal of tariffs on Dorvik crude oil and natural gas imports could be the saving grace for foreign and trade policy planners as Lodamun continues to restructure its foreign and trade policies towards closer relations with “like-minded, stable states”. Merchant-General Charlotte Farr has long maintained an inherent suspicion of the idea of Lodamun importing energy from the often antagonistic Trigunia, pointing to the previous drone debacle and the nation’s recent civil war as justification for Lodamun to reconsider its relationship with the Kerisian energy giant. “I think this free trade agreement could be the means by which we weaken our dependence on Trigunian energy imports, recognising the unstable nature of that nation’s near-feudalistic economy. There is a discussion to be had in replacing Trigunian imports with Dorvish imports entirely,” MG Farr explained. 

Secretary of Energy and Natural Resources Oliver Knight noted that Lodamun’s consumption of crude oil and natural gas was significant, in that although imports were no longer solely used in power generation but were instead used in the creation of subordinate products, the scale of the production of these products was massive compared to other territories. “What cannot be denied is that we [Lodamun] are one of the world’s largest importers and consumers of energy (particularly crude oil and natural gas). Whether you want to view that as an achievement in itself is subjective. What matters is that the extent/scale of our business (of our demand) from other states is noticeable, even as we continue to maintain our policy against joining the Vamaj network.”

Yet despite this, many have noted that Lodamun’s “pivot” to numerous Artanian states including Dorvik, Kundrati, Dundorf, Ikradon, Hobrazia, and even Narikaton & Darnussia, is set against the backdrop of the nation’s changing relationship with Luthori. The central Artanian state has long been the largest market for Lodamese imports and exports on the Artanian continent, however, a growing rift between the two states on numerous issues including defence and their involvement on the Seleyan continent is changing the dynamic of this decades-long relationship. With MG Farr having rejected the idea of a Lodamese re-entry to the Commonwealth trade framework, the lack of structure with respect to trade between the two states ultimately leaves significant room open for the Harrington Company to begin treating Luthori as any other states with which Lodamun maintains no trade agreements with.