Lurkomorye has a green oak. Ecological catastrophe in the Azov and Black seas

All CU countries in 2007-2012 remained net importers of engineering products. And in Russia, and in Belarus, and in Kazakhstan, dependence on imports of engineering products increased over the period under review. Thus, Russian engineering exports from 2006 to 2012 increased by 29%, and imports by 123%. In Belarus, the growth rate of exports was 85%, imports - 96%. In Kazakhstan, exports grew by 4%, while imports by 30%.

Most of the exports of engineering products of the countries of the region in 2012 accounted for $16.6 billion to Russia. Belarus exported engineering products in the amount of $6.8 billion, and Kazakhstan in the amount of $0.7 billion. The exports of Armenia, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan against the background of the total engineering exports of the CU republics are almost invisible.

The shares of exports of engineering products in the total exports of goods in all countries of the region, except for Belarus, are small and do not exceed 5%. In Belarus, such products in 2012 accounted for 16.9% of exports of goods. On the contrary, the shares of imports of engineering products in imports of goods are significant in all the subjects under consideration: Belarus and Armenia had the smallest share of 18.8%, the largest share was Russia 49.9%, where engineering products are the largest import item of goods.

Russia
In 2012, the net export of Russian engineering products amounted to -$135.8 billion. In other words, Russia imported much more machinery and equipment than it exported. At the same time, it was a net importer for all considered types. economic activity varying degrees of disaggregation. Moreover, for almost all types of activities, imports were many times higher than exports. With regard to Russian exports of engineering products, out of $16.6 billion, 21.1% accounted for equipment, 31.3% for electrical equipment and 47.6% for vehicles. The largest export items were aircrafts$3.1 billion, electronic components and apparatus for radio, television and communications $2 billion, and electrical machinery and equipment $1.7 billion.

Of the $152.4 billion of Russian imports of engineering products, 35.2% each accounted for the production of equipment and the production of vehicles, the share of electrical equipment amounted to 31.3%. The largest imports were cars $18.7 billion, electronic components and equipment for radio, television and communications $18.2 billion, electrical equipment $11 billion, equipment for mining and construction $6.3 billion, aircraft $5.8 billion, equipment for Agriculture$5.6 billion

The Russian Federation has a significant potential for import substitution. This is due to the significant demand for engineering products, which is now largely met by imports. And all last years frequency of purchases of imported equipment Russian enterprises grew, exceeding the frequency of purchases of machinery and equipment manufactured in the Russian Federation in 2012.

In the short and medium term, it can be expected that the growth of domestic demand for automotive products and durable goods will continue, since the saturation of the markets with these products is still far from the indicators typical for the most developed countries. In addition, the achievement of maximum utilization of existing capacities in almost all industries in the mid-2000s increased the demand for machine tool products, this is another potential growth direction for Russian engineering.

True, in many positions the growing demand for engineering products is satisfied almost entirely by foreign supplies. Therefore, the realization of the existing import substitution potential depends on how quickly the process of updating machine-building equipment goes. The example of some industries, in particular the automotive industry, shows that the modernization of production, subject to the existence of stable effective demand and the creation of relatively small preferences for investors, can take place in quite short term. The resources accumulated during the period of economic growth can become the main source of financing for investments in the fixed capital of mechanical engineering. The latter, however, will require special efforts on the part of the state to facilitate and reduce the cost of access to funding sources.

The potential for increasing exports of Russian engineering products is limited. First, growing domestic demand, both consumer and investment, will absorb most increase in the output of goods and will not allow a significant increase in export deliveries. Secondly, with the existing technological lag behind developed countries, it is difficult to predict a significant increase in demand for Russian engineering products in the world market. Now, in almost all commodity groups, imports are many times greater than exports. This indicates a weak demand Russian products on the world market, and it is hardly possible to quickly gain positions on it even with an increase in the quality of goods.

Belarus
Belarus' net exports in 2012 were -$1.8 billion, and the value of imports is comparable to the value of exports. Belarus is a net importer of equipment. For most items, although imports exceeded exports, their values ​​were comparable, and in the “production of machinery and equipment for agriculture”, exports exceeded imports by almost four times. In the production of vehicles, the country is a net exporter of products, and here the excess of exports over imports is achieved mainly due to the net export of trucks. By engines internal combustion, passenger cars and railway rolling stock, Belarusian imports exceed exports.

Of the $6.8 billion of machine-building exports of the Republic of Belarus, 47.1% accounted for equipment, 17.6% for electrical equipment and 35.3% for vehicles. Largest export groups: machinery and equipment for agriculture $1.8 billion, trucks$1.4 billion and electrical equipment $0.6 billion. The largest import positions in the country in 2012 were electrical equipment $1 billion, electronic components and equipment for radio, television and communications $0.8 billion, cars $0.6 billion, internal combustion engines for cars and machinery and equipment for agriculture. farms for $0.5 billion.

Belarus depends on foreign deliveries of a very wide range of engineering goods. In 2012, the negative balance in the foreign trade exchange of such goods de facto reduced the potential GDP of the republic by 17.6%, which is the largest indicator in the countries of the region.

Kazakhstan
The trade balance of engineering products of the Republic of Kazakhstan in 2012 amounted to $13.2 billion. Kazakhstan, like Russia, is a net importer of these products for all types of economic activity under consideration. The export of engineering products of the republic was equal to $0.7 billion, of which $0.35 billion was the cost of exported equipment, $0.29 billion of electrical equipment, $0.06 billion of vehicles. The largest imports of Kazakhstan in 2012 were electronic components, equipment for radio, television and communications $1.8 billion, electrical machinery and electrical equipment and railway rolling stock $1.5 billion.

The economy of the republic in the coming years, according to forecasts, will develop dynamically. Consequently, the demand for engineering products will increase. But the volumes of output of the Kazakh engineering industry are now relatively small, and in any case it is not able to satisfy the demand of local consumers. Therefore, mass import substitution in the context of a growing economy in Kazakhstan is unlikely and, moreover, it is inappropriate in many respects, since huge resources are required to create new engineering industries.

The export of engineering products of the Republic of Kazakhstan is small in 2012, it was equal to 0.4% of GDP, the lowest figure in the CES countries and is focused on the Russian market. It is difficult to expect its multiple increase, but for some commodity groups, bearings, electrical equipment, given the creation of the Common Economic Space, it is possible to predict a certain increase in export flows.

Mechanical engineering is the main branch of industry: it accounts for 35-38% of the cost of industrial products in developed countries and 34-36% of the employed. In developing countries, this proportion is much smaller - 15-20% or less.

In terms of the total cost of production, the United States is firmly in first place, Japan is in second place, and Germany, the leader of Western European engineering, is in third; followed by China. The scale of machine-building products of other countries is already an order of magnitude smaller, but the leading countries include France, Great Britain, Italy, Canada, Brazil and Spain, which close the top ten largest manufacturers engineering products of the world. All other countries provide a total of less than 10% of world engineering products.

USA, Japan, Germany produce a full range of engineering products. A smaller variety is typical for the engineering industry in Great Britain, France, Italy, and also Canada. China is a major exporter of primitive machine-building products, such as bicycles, while Russia, in fact, has not yet found its place in the world market, but has great potential for the export of weapons and the latest (including space) technology; at the same time, it is forced to import many types of machines that were previously supplied from other republics of the former Union, from countries of Eastern Europe. Therefore, both in Russia and in China there is a negative balance in foreign trade in engineering products.

Many countries in Western Europe also import various types of equipment and at the same time export high-quality products that have won a "place in the sun" in the world market. Thus, Switzerland is a major exporter of high-quality machine tools, watches, instruments, large-sized electrical and textile equipment; at the same time, the country imports cars and many other engineering products. The mechanical engineering industry in Sweden and most other Western European countries is being built in approximately the same way: high-quality high-tech products are exported and a wide range of goods is imported at the same time. conventional products, especially electrical and radio engineering, primarily from South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore. The "new tigers" of Southeast Asia make up the second group of exporting countries that work mainly for the foreign market, and especially the US and even European markets, and supply mass, labor-intensive products, such as ships (the Republic of Korea came out on top), cars, and household electrical appliances. and so on. If the first group of exporters, especially European ones, is based on high technology and quality, the second group has the ability to produce competitive products due to the cheapness of labor.

Outside these two groups, one can name countries where mechanical engineering is based on a large capacity of the domestic market - China, Brazil, India. Their mechanical engineering is still only entering the foreign market. Many countries in Latin America, Asia, and Africa satisfy their needs for machine-building products entirely through imports.

Russia and the CIS countries are in the process of developing their economic structures, but it is already clear that there are large gaps in the range of production that have to be either covered by imports or restored anew. These include not only complex products such as machine tools or turbochargers, but also rather elementary products that were "given away" to the countries of Eastern Europe at one time - from batteries and even light bulbs to wagons, oil equipment and cables. Of course, the country has huge capacities of the military-industrial complex, but its conversion requires a lot of money, and most importantly, political will, since there are still tendencies to find markets for weapons, not taking into account that weapons are a “political commodity” with their own laws. sales. In any case, according to various calculations, it will take from 5 to 15 years before the military-industrial complex could more than cover the needs of the country and adapt to market requirements. Russia still ranks second in arms exports.

The sectoral structure of the industry is dominated by general mechanical engineering, electrical engineering (including electronics), and transport engineering. The share of general engineering, which occupied in the late 80s. first place, decreased. This is due to the reduction in the production of agricultural machinery, textile equipment, etc.; at the same time, the output of road construction machines has increased or new industries have appeared - for example, robotics, office equipment, etc.

Table 6

international trade weapons and military equipment(million dollars)

General mechanical engineering is very versatile, according to various classifications, it includes from 300 to 360 main industries. Among them are machine tool building, manufacturing equipment, agricultural machinery, road construction equipment, engines, pumps, and printing equipment. There is a systematic shift of general engineering to less developed countries, where the most labor-intensive types of production are transferred. This is especially noticeable in such industries as shipbuilding, agricultural engineering, and the production of road-building machines.

World machine-building complex

Mechanical engineering is the main branch of industry: it accounts for 35-38% of the cost of industrial products in developed countries and 34-36% of the employed. In developing countries, this proportion is much smaller - 15-20% or less.

In terms of the total cost of production, the United States is firmly in first place, Japan is in second place, and Germany, the leader of Western European engineering, is in third; followed by China. The scale of engineering products in other countries is already an order of magnitude smaller, but the leading countries include France, Great Britain, Italy, Canada, Brazil and Spain, which round out the top ten largest manufacturers of engineering products in the world. All other countries provide a total of less than 10% of world engineering products.*

* Previously, the USSR firmly occupied second place, regardless of the method of calculating the cost of engineering products. But now, due to the curtailment of the main military production and the fact that a significant share of industries falls on the enterprises of Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltic countries, any comparisons will be inaccurate. Nevertheless, the main production base of Russian machine building has been preserved and has a high potential.

USA, Japan, Germany produce a full range of engineering products. A smaller variety is typical for the engineering industry in Great Britain, France, Italy, and also Canada. China is a major exporter of primitive machine-building products, such as bicycles, while Russia, in fact, has not yet found its place in the world market, but has great potential for the export of weapons and the latest (including space) technology; at the same time, it is forced to import many types of machines that were previously supplied from other republics of the former Soviet Union, from the countries of Eastern Europe. Therefore, both in Russia and in China there is a negative balance in foreign trade in engineering products.

Many countries in Western Europe also import various types of equipment and at the same time export high-quality products that have won a "place in the sun" in the world market. Thus, Switzerland is a major exporter of high-quality machine tools, watches, instruments, large-sized electrical and textile equipment; at the same time, the country imports cars and many other engineering products. The mechanical engineering industry in Sweden and most other Western European countries is being built approximately in the same way: high-quality high-tech products are exported and at the same time a wide range of ordinary products is imported, especially electrical and radio engineering, primarily from South Korea, Hong Kong, and Singapore. "New Tigers" South-East Asia make up the second group of exporting countries that work mainly for the foreign market, and especially the US market and even Europe, and supply mass, labor-intensive products, such as ships (the Republic of Korea came out on top), cars, household electrical appliances, etc. If the first group of exporters, especially European ones, is based on high technology and quality, then the second group has the ability to produce competitive products due to the cheapness of labor.

Outside these two groups, one can name countries where mechanical engineering is based on a large capacity of the domestic market - China, Brazil, India. Their mechanical engineering is still only entering the foreign market. Many countries in Latin America, Asia, and Africa satisfy their needs for machine-building products entirely through imports.

Russia and the CIS countries are in the process of developing their economic structures, but it is already clear that there are large gaps in the range of production that have to be either covered by imports or restored anew. These include not only complex products such as machine tools or turbochargers, but also rather elementary products, "given" at one time to the countries of Eastern Europe - from batteries and even light bulbs to wagons, oil equipment and cables. Of course, the country has enormous capacities of the military-industrial complex, but its conversion requires a lot of money, and most importantly, political will, since there are still tendencies to find markets for weapons, not taking into account that weapons are a “political commodity” with their own laws. sales. In any case, according to various calculations, it will take from 5 to 15 years before the military-industrial complex could more than cover the needs of the country and adapt to market requirements. Russia still ranks second in arms exports.

The sectoral structure of the industry is dominated by general mechanical engineering, electrical engineering (including electronics), and transport engineering. The share of general engineering, which occupied in the late 80s. first place, decreased. This is due to the reduction in the production of agricultural machinery, textile equipment, etc.; at the same time, the output of road construction machines has increased or new industries have appeared - for example, robotics, office equipment, etc.

Table 6

International trade in arms and military equipment (million dollars)

General mechanical engineering is very versatile, according to various classifications, it includes from 300 to 360 main industries. Among them are machine tool building, manufacturing equipment, agricultural machinery, road construction equipment, engines, pumps, and printing equipment. There is a systematic shift of general engineering to less developed countries, where the most labor-intensive types of production are transferred. This is especially noticeable in such industries as shipbuilding, agricultural engineering, and the production of road-building machines.

Machine tool industry so far, despite its wide distribution, in fact, it is concentrated in a few countries. Moreover, the export of machine tool products is typical for an even smaller number of countries: for example, China, which is in fifth place in the production of machine tools, exports approximately 10% of its products, significantly yielding to Switzerland. Japan and Germany remain the main supplier of machine tools to the world market, and to a lesser extent the USA, Italy and Switzerland. These five leaders in the world machine tool industry provide the bulk of the supply of machine tools to the world market.

Table 7

Machine-tool building and export of the industry of the leading countries of the world in 1993 (in million dollars)

Otherwise located enterprises agricultural engineering. Up to 40% of agricultural machines and 30% of tractors are produced in developing countries. Nevertheless, the differences between the agricultural engineering industry of highly developed and developing countries are very significant. In the former, not just complex machines predominate, but specialization in the production of equipment for the integrated mechanization of farms is clearly manifested, while in the latter, mechanical engineering specializes in machines for field crops. Moreover, developing countries very often specialize in the production of products that are no longer produced in the leading countries. So, Brazil in the 80s. produced up to 100 thousand reapers.

These industries are characterized by the widest nomenclature among all branches of general engineering. All other types of machines are produced in much smaller quantities and, most importantly, there is a fairly clear pattern in their placement: the more complex the type of machine, the higher the economic and technological level of the manufacturer, the easier machine, the more often its production is located in third world countries. The more complex the production, the narrower the circle of producers.

A very limited range of manufacturers heavy engineering. In the past, the entire range of heavy equipment was produced only in the USA, Japan, Germany and, to some extent, the UK. All other countries, in fact, produce only a limited range of products that are in demand on the world market, and are forced to import more heavy engineering products than export them. China gradually began to catch up with the first group, but this industry does not satisfy domestic demand either in terms of quantity or quality of products. Although China has already entered the markets with low-power and simple equipment, it is still primarily an importer of heavy engineering products.

The rest of the suppliers of products stand out on the world market only with individual products: for example, Sweden supplies equipment for the paper industry, just like Finland; Austria - equipment for metallurgical plants. Mechanical engineering in Switzerland, Belgium, and the Netherlands is well known. Only France and Italy have a wider range of heavy engineering products, but nevertheless they do not fully satisfy their market. In general, the largest exporter of general engineering products is Germany, the second place belongs to the USA and only the third place belongs to Japan.

In developing countries, Brazil and India stand out.

Electrical and Electronics separated into two industries, although electronics grew out of electrical engineering and therefore, in many cases, electrical and electronic industries are part of not only the same firms, but also industrial enterprises. In many countries, both sectors are still considered to be a single industry in statistics, but nevertheless, different factors of their placement should already be taken into account. Despite its "primogeniture", electrical engineering is now the "poor" sister in the electronic-electrical family. IN electrical engineering There are two types of main industries that differ significantly in technology and organization of the industrial cycle. The production of household electrical appliances is carried out in large batches, often on assembly lines and amounts to millions of copies, while the production of generators and other industrial electrical appliances is of a single and small-scale nature, they are produced at a few factories serving the world market. In the United States, several large plants provide powerful electric machines not only for the country, but for the whole world. They are located in Pittsburgh - the cradle of Westinghouse Electric, Schenectady (near New York) - the birthplace of the Edison company, in Milwaukee, where large plants produce a wide range of electrical products. In Western Europe, such plants are located in Manchester, the center of the Metro Vickers company, in Baden (Switzerland) - the Brown-Boveri company, in Nuremberg - the Siemens company, in Eindhoven (Netherlands) - the Philips company. Enterprises that produce mass products are located mainly in small towns, where land and labor are cheap.

The conditions for placing electronic enterprises for the production of mass products are similar to the conditions for standard electrical production. But the head factories of electronic companies are located with a focus on proximity to research centers. Such, for example, is California's famous Silicon Valley, where R&D firms have grown up around the famed Stanford University. Similar science parks have grown in Europe and Japan.

Electronics industry consists of two large sub-sectors: military-industrial electronics and consumer electronics. The first sub-sector is still the destiny of such countries as the USA and Russia, to a lesser extent Japan and European countries. Japan became the main center of consumer electronics, and then the countries of East and Southeast Asia. Thus, in the United States, the ratio between the output of military-industrial and consumer electronics is approximately 10:1, while in Japan, consumer electronics gave up to 80% total production sub-sectors. An even larger share of consumer electronics is in the newly industrialized countries, where it is dispersed among many manufacturers. As a result, imports of consumer electronics from these countries and Japan to the United States reach $15-20 billion, i.e. almost equal to domestic production. Singapore, the Republic of Korea, Taiwan, and Malaysia stand out among the NIS. The Western European electronics industry is struggling to compete with NIS, and its global market share is steadily declining.

Transport engineering remains one of the most important branches of engineering. At present, its divisions such as aircraft manufacturing (due to falling demand for military aircraft), shipbuilding (due to falling demand for oil tonnage) have declined in importance, and the production of railway stock, which has actually been moved to developing countries, is stagnating. However, in Russia and the CIS countries, the production of railway rolling stock has a market and needs to be further expanded.

Leading place firmly occupied automotive industry, which is gradually expanding, covering all new countries, for example, Brazil, Argentina, the Republic of Korea. But four regions remain the main producers: Japan, the US with Canada, the EU, and Russia. The automotive industry in Latin America has significant growth potential. The Chinese auto industry is starting to develop, but it is still very small in scale for a country like China.

In general, the European macro-region produced 16 million cars and ranked first, while Japan, together with the Republic of Korea, were in second place. In third place are the United States and Canada. The auto industry of South America stands out outside the three macro-regions (Brazil and Argentina together produce about 2.5 million cars), Russia and China, although technologically they gravitate towards the macro-regions of the EU and Japan. Outside these countries, there are separate manufacturers in Turkey (320 thousand), India (310 thousand), Malaysia (about 300 thousand), as well as car assembly plants in many countries of the world.

Table 8

Automotive industry of the leading countries of the world in 1993 (in million units)

In Europe, the automotive industry gravitates towards metropolitan areas and seaports. Thus, export-oriented factories are located in ports or coastal areas. This is typical for France for the Lower Seine valley and the ports of Brittany, for Great Britain, where the vast majority of British capacities are concentrated in Greater London and along the Manchester Canal, for large ports in Spain. And only in the Federal Republic of Germany do the interior regions provide most of the production and there is an old focus on the engineering centers of Stuttgart ("Mercedes-Benz"), Munich ("BMW"), Braunschweig ("Volkswagen"), etc. However, the distances in the Federal Republic of Germany are relatively small and practically the entire territory of the country is connected with the ports not only of the FRG, but also of Belgium and the Netherlands (Antwerp and Rotterdam, in terms of integration, serve the entire territory of the FRG). In addition, there are special production facilities operating directly for export, such as the Volkswagen Werk plant in Emden.

In Japan, the auto industry's focus on ports is even more pronounced. Most of the Japanese car factories are located between Nagoya and Tokyo, and the main flow of export cars goes through these ports.

In the US, the automotive industry is clearly focused on the domestic market. The country is characterized by a more even distribution of car assembly plants in the centers of the main economic regions, although Detroit and Los Angeles remain the main centers of production. Detroit is the cradle of the American auto industry, the city where the Ford Motor factories grew up in the suburbs of Dearborn.

The automotive industry has become the leading sub-sector of transport engineering, although ten years ago the most capital-intensive type of transport engineering was aircraft construction, or more precisely, aerospace production. With the reduction of military spending, the importance of this industry has decreased. the largest aerospace industry possessed by the United States, the second place is occupied by Russia - the successor to the military potential of the USSR. France and the United Kingdom follow by a significant margin, and their space industry has also undergone serious cuts. Out of this big four the aviation industry of the FRG and the Fokker firm in the Netherlands stand out. The remaining aerospace enterprises around the world are most often limited to the production of individual blocks, in particular, for the Airbus assembled in France.

From centers aviation industry First of all, the group of Boeing factories in Seattle and the Los Angeles area should be singled out. In Western Europe, the plant in Toulouse stands out, where the supersonic Concorde was assembled. The nature of the location of the aviation industry is influenced by the desire to find areas with cheaper land for airfields. The close relationship with R&D has led to the concentration of the aviation industry in a few countries with a high level of science and skill. work force.

Unlike aircraft shipbuilding is increasingly becoming the lot of countries with cheap labor and relatively lower requirements for its qualifications. Although Japan for a long time was the leading ship manufacturer, it was overtaken by the Republic of Korea. A prominent place is occupied by other countries of new industrialization in Asia and Latin America (Taiwan, Brazil, and others). The classic shipbuilding powers - Great Britain, the Netherlands, Germany - have long ceased to play any significant role in world shipbuilding and, as a rule, switched to ship repair (the largest center is Rotterdam). The once largest shipbuilding industry in the United States, which is more engaged in the construction of military ships than in the production of civilian ones, acquires the same character. The cheapness of labor power is the most important factor shipbuilding survival. This also applies to Russia, although the remaining capacity is clearly not able to meet the needs Russian fleet. Russia will have to either buy ships abroad or expand shipbuilding, including through conversion, since the USSR used to be a major importer of merchant ships.

Shifts in the territorial and sectoral structure of machine-building production occurred against the backdrop of a general expansion of engineering: over the past 15 years, the number of countries with significant potential has almost doubled. Mechanical engineering, previously the privilege of only highly developed countries, has become increasingly widespread throughout the world, although most countries do not have a “full” profile of engineering industries and are unlikely to ever have it, since a lot depends on the level of R&D and the qualifications of the workforce. Nevertheless, the cheapness of labor becomes the main factor in the location of mechanical engineering, and only in second place is R&D and high qualifications. Due to these two factors, the countries of early industrialization retain a monopoly on many complex industries, although the role of labor qualification is not always the decisive force. It is in Asian countries that a new type of labor force has developed, where the perception of labor skills comes not from the general cultural level of the population, which allows you to quickly master new processes, but from the purely automatic repetition of the instructor's movements. Even without knowing the meaning of these movements, Asian peasants, accustomed to work very accurately in their small rice fields, are used to automatically repeating the necessary movements after the instructor. This sharply reduces the requirements for the general educational level of workers and makes it possible to achieve high productivity where the general cultural level of the workforce is relatively low. Therefore, today the level of culture of a worker does not determine the competitiveness of the industry in far from all branches of engineering, but, as a rule, the higher the complexity of production, the higher the requirements for the level of culture of a worker. Therefore, in the highest technologies, the “old countries” still retain their leading position.

general trend is the shift of production of low and medium complexity from developed countries to developing ones. This is greatly facilitated by TNCs that move their branches to developing countries, leaving only R&D and complex production in their home countries.

As a result, the following groups of countries were formed according to the level of development of mechanical engineering, taking into account the international division of labor, specialization and cooperation:

1. Countries with a relatively complete range of industries - the USA, Germany, Japan.

2. Countries with minor gaps in the industry structure - Great Britain and, with a certain degree of conventionality, Italy.

3. Countries with an incomplete set of engineering industries - Russia, France, China, with a certain degree of conditionality Spain and the Czech Republic.

4. Countries that import most of the range of engineering products, but with highly developed individual industries and with a positive foreign trade balance for machines - Switzerland, Sweden, NIS countries - exporters of engineering products - the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Taiwan.

5. Countries with a high degree of dependence on imports, but with separate highly developed sub-sectors of engineering, the cost of which is up to 2/3 of the cost of imports - the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Denmark, Hungary, with a certain degree of conventionality, Malaysia can also be included here. Poland, Romania, and Bulgaria once belonged to this category, but so far their economy is in the process of restructuring, and it is difficult to say what place they will eventually occupy. Close to them and Ukraine.

6. Countries with a large scale of production, but having such gaps in the structure of production that exports at the cost of machines cover only half of imports - Canada, Brazil, Mexico, and India.

7. Countries where, with a significant overall scale of production, the foreign trade balance is sharply negative - Australia, South Africa, Argentina.

8. Countries with separate export and highly specialized types of mechanical engineering - Finland, Norway, Israel, as well as Greece and Portugal; Puerto Rico became a subsidiary of American engineering companies, export-oriented to latin america; this includes several third world countries, such as Mauritius, which supplies the world market with cheap pocket receivers.

10. Countries where mechanical engineering, although of considerable scale, is clearly not enough to meet the needs of their countries - Turkey, to some extent Iran, Egypt.

11. Countries with rudimentary mechanical engineering, like Nigeria.

12. Countries with predominantly repair and assembly plants, like Ethiopia, Cambodia and many other third world countries.

North America (USA, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico) accounts for approximately 1/3 of the value of world engineering production. This region, representing the widest range of products and the highest qualifications, imports a significant amount of products of medium and low complexity from Asia, as well as from Europe. This region acts on world markets as the largest exporter of highly complex products, heavy engineering products and high technology industries. Standard products are exported mainly from the USA to Canada and Latin America.

The division of labor in the US engineering industry to some extent repeats the international pattern. The most developed region is the industrial East (almost 50% of the cost of American engineering products). The second most important region of the Pacific States - approximately 15%. This area is rapidly growing due to products of high complexity and, above all, electronics. Nevertheless, the engineering industry of the Pacific states has a far from complete range, for it is clearly specialized in the latest branches of production.

The South is the third most important area for the location of mechanical engineering (about 20%). It is even more specialized and stands out for a number of important branches, but on the whole it has a less diverse range than the previous two. First of all, oil engineering, the aviation industry stand out, radio electronics is growing, as well as car assembly.

The US market of mass engineering products to a large extent determines the trends in the development of engineering products in Western Europe, which accounts for about 25-30% of world engineering products. This share fluctuates greatly: despite the fact that the products of the EEC countries are used to a greater extent within the region itself, its dependence on external markets is consistently higher than that of the United States. As a manufacturer of mass engineering products, the region has retained its position in the field of high technology, especially in machine tools and industrial engineering. Things are different in Western Europe in the field of electronics, where it is losing not only to the USA and Japan, but also to the "Asian tigers", receiving a significant part of its electronics products from Singapore and other "new" manufacturers of electronic products. Nevertheless, in the field of industrial engineering, partly in the automotive industry, instrument making, the positions of Western Europe are still quite strong. It is in the field of machine tool building and industrial engineering that the positions of Germany, as well as Switzerland, Italy, Sweden, and Great Britain are the strongest. The Big Six (Italy, Great Britain, France, Switzerland, Sweden, Belgium) are not much inferior to Germany. All types of mechanical engineering in Western Europe are concentrated not only in the first seven countries, but also in a number of small countries, such as Austria, the Netherlands; even in Spain there are large industries, such as automobile factories. Finland and Portugal stand out in separate species. Therefore, Western Europe should be considered as an integral region with a wide distribution of mechanical engineering of all kinds, especially since cooperation in mechanical engineering in Europe has been established very widely.

The third region - East and Southeast Asia - provides about a quarter of the world's engineering products. Its leader is Japan, which has become the second machine-building power in the world. Mechanical engineering in Japan only by the beginning of the 80s. has reached structural and scientific and technical maturity. At the same time, it almost immediately took the path of “transferring” less profitable (including in terms of wages) industries to the countries of Southeast Asia. This helps Japanese firms, with the help of their subsidiaries, using local cheaper labor, to remain competitive in world markets. Japan itself is moving to the position of a manufacturer of products that require higher qualifications. Height wages in the country is compensated by a change in the range of production, the transition to more complex and expensive products, as well as an increase in robotization and automation of industry. Japan gradually takes the lead scientific and technological progress and exporter of high complexity products. And the former product range is gradually being transferred to Japanese enterprises in Southeast Asia. And although until now its face still determines the export of mass engineering products, but the process that has begun suggests that in the near future Japan will become an exporter of the most qualified products.

In the countries of Southeast Asia, mechanical engineering most often arose as branches of Japanese enterprises. But today this group is not only independent, but also creates own production, although many enterprises in Southeast Asia are affiliates of TNCs. However, their own enterprises are already being created, and the most characteristic in this regard is the Republic of Korea, which has begun to compete with the Japanese themselves, although the United States also has a considerable merit in the development of Korean industry: large investments in the Republic of Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore belong to US TNCs. Gradually, a large machine-building region is being formed in the NIS of Southeast Asia and the Far East, including the Republic of Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia. These countries are already pursuing an independent economic policy. For the time being, they retain the relative cheapness of local labor, but the industry continues to move into new countries in search of cheaper labor. Next in line are Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka.

Outside these groupings, a separate large array forms the mechanical engineering of China. Its own demand for engineering products is so great that the vast majority of its rather large production is consumed in the domestic market. Along with this, China imports a lot of sophisticated equipment, but at the same time it has taken the place of a supplier of products of low complexity on the world market. Importing, for example, cars, it ranks first in the production of bicycles and exports a lot of them to countries that prefer to buy products cheaper and the worst quality. And, apparently, such specialization in the world market will still last. In the future, however, the export of cars from China will begin to grow, just as the export of products from there is now growing. light industry. And the first products of this future world specialization in cheap cars are already flooding the markets of a number of countries - bicycles, watches, low-quality machines for repair shops, and their flow is growing.

The problems of the Russian engineering industry do not yet make it possible to clearly predict its future structure, priority sectors and growth points. In the context of a sharp reduction in military orders in plight all related branches of engineering were also supplied, which further aggravated the disruption of ties, first with the CMEA countries, and then with the CIS. At the same time, the maximum use of the potential of the military-industrial complex is hampered by hopes for foreign arms markets. The reorientation of the domestic engineering industry is absolutely necessary. Russia is the only large industrial developed country, which is experiencing a shortage of wagons, sea vessels, oil equipment and dozens of other types of equipment, up to the most elementary ones. Of course, the gradual establishment of ties within the CIS will bear fruit, but it should be borne in mind that almost 30% of industrial products came from Eastern Europe, and the exchange of engineering products with the Baltic countries was in a 1:2 ratio. After the liquidation of the monopoly of foreign trade, the competition for imported household products in the Russian market sharply intensified. So the prospects for our mechanical engineering are not yet clear. So far, Russia has turned from an exporter of engineering products into an almost net importer (except for weapons).

In addition to the considered countries, Brazil's mechanical engineering stands out with its very capacious market potential and large resources of cheap labor. However, the technical level of mechanical engineering is still relatively low. Nevertheless, Brazil is already today a major exporter of cars (330,000 in 1993). In addition to automobiles, shipbuilding has reached a noticeable development, aircraft production has begun, although heavy engineering is still practically absent. Nevertheless, the country has prospects over time to become one of the significant producers of machines that can penetrate foreign markets.

In general, mechanical engineering, despite very serious changes in its location associated with the emergence of "new" countries, is still concentrated in three main regions of the world economy - North America, Western Europe and Southeast Asia. In fact, the creation of the Chinese machine-building area is just beginning, which tends to grow into a new large machine-building region. All other areas are still in the formation stage, such as the Brazilian one, but the region of Russia and the CIS countries, which was recently one of the largest, is in decline, and it is too early to judge its global role.

The main factor in the location of mechanical engineering is still R&D and the cost of labor, multiplied by its qualifications. Scientific potential plays a special role in accommodating the latest industries, especially in the early stages of development. Japan showed the way rapid development someone else's scientific technical potential through the purchase of licenses with the subsequent development of their own R&D. In fact, all the newly industrialized countries are following the same path. As before, the high scientific and technical potential retains the leadership of the United States in world engineering, although not to the same extent as before. Western Europe also retains its scientific and technical potential, but has lost the role of the main generator of scientific and technical ideas, the role of the "cradle" of world technology. The future will be decided in favor of those countries that will be able to ensure the quality and qualification of labor resources in mechanical engineering.

Questions

1. Describe the top ten countries - the main manufacturers of engineering products.

2. What are the main factors for the development of the industry in different groups countries?

3. What are specific features arms production?

4. What industries are included in general engineering and why is the industry curtailed?

5. What are the main shifts in the geography of the industry?

6. What is the territorial concentration of the world machine tool industry and how is the export of its products distributed?

7. What are the similarities and differences in the placement of electrical engineering and electronics?

8. Describe the tasks and functions of "science parks".

9. What are the structural and territorial shifts in transport engineering?

10. What are the main modern standard factors in the automotive industry?

11. Describe the main changes in the global shipbuilding industry.

12. Group and classify countries and regions according to the level of engineering development.