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THE ASIAN NEWLY INDUSTRIALIZED ECONOMIES IN A RAPIDLY CHANGING ASIA PACIFIC
I. INTRODUCTION
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Despite a slowdown in the world economy and the adverse effects of the Gulf
Crisis, Asia has remained the fastest growing region in the world. In 1990, the average
economic growth rate of Asia was 5.8%, which was higher than the average growth rate
of 2.4% of the developing world as a whole, and much higher than that of 1.7% of the
world. Amidst a fast growing Asia, we could identify a number of forces which help
render long term, to explain this recent growth experience of the region and to
self-sustaining economic growth possible.
In the past decade, it was witnessed that the Asia Pacific region was moving towards
a greater degree of regional interdependence. There were two major driving forces
behind the scene. Firstly, the region was undergoing profound structural changes which
gave rise the rapid upsurge of intra-regional trade and intra-regional investment; and
the emergence of sub-regional economic growth zones along the coastal areas of West
Pacific. Secondly, some major countries in the region have undertaken significant policy
changes. While some of them are in the process of transformation into more liberalized
and deregulated economies, others are placing considerable emphasis on building
physical infrastructure. These structural and policy changes have made it possible and
necessary for Asia Pacific economies to escalate their economic interactions and
cooperation.
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