If there is a sector in your country that is like a raw resource, you can't create it's production.
Sectors like gold, coal, uranium, iron, bauxite are considered resources that you either have or don't have in tthis game. There isn't an amount of subsidies or surplus in water supply networks that will create this industry, because the game simply understands that that resource does not exist in you country.

hope this helps

That's not necessarily the case. I once got a massive budget surplus playing as the Philippines (by selling bananas and nickel), and I used the budget surplus to give a small subsidy to every single sector. It allowed me to start producing some products (e.g. Aeronautical Construction) but not others (e.g. Uranium).

Thanks and yeah, it helps some - I had already kind reached that conclusion more or less but I do appreciate you taking the time to answer and get it finalized...

also, how long does it take to see an industry / agricultural increase? When I subsidize I might see an immediate increase in the menu but when I go to contracts that number does not always change. Is it a year? Or do I just wait to the next quarter?

Originally posted by Fart_Gas:

That's not necessarily the case. I once got a massive budget surplus playing as the Philippines (by selling bananas and nickel), and I used the budget surplus to give a small subsidy to every single sector. It allowed me to start producing some products (e.g. Aeronautical Construction) but not others (e.g. Uranium).

Yes, that's what i'm saying. Aeronautical construction is not a raw resource, it's an industrial sector, while gold, nickel, iron etc are like extractivism sectors. If you don't have any production of these raw resources in the beginning of the game you are never going to have it, no matter how many billions in subsidies you apply, because the game understands that you don' have that resource in your country.

Originally posted by rickerts:

Thanks and yeah, it helps some - I had already kind reached that conclusion more or less but I do appreciate you taking the time to answer and get it finalized...

also, how long does it take to see an industry / agricultural increase? When I subsidize I might see an immediate increase in the menu but when I go to contracts that number does not always change. Is it a year? Or do I just wait to the next quarter?

Well, as far as i know you usually see the increas in ''Production(% of global production) instantly, at the moment you apply the subsidy. But to see increase in sales, profit, employment and trade balance it usually takes time and some weekly economical calculations.

You will see an increase in production, but the cost of production will be greater than the purchase price, so it is not as profitable an investment as if you invest in sustainable companies, but there are of course some industries, such as weapons production, where it is advantageous to subsidize, especially in a country like South Korea where they have an arms embargo and a low GDP with a large workforce.