Walking together, the tiger, dragon, elephant and lion

THROUGH the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s the Asian economies prioritised their insertion into the global economy. This resulted in a macroeconomic policy environment that became critical for Asia’s economic transformation and post colonial rise.

Many East and Southeast Asian economies have progressed from low income to middle income status in the past 50 years, prompting the World Bank to coin the term “East Asian Miracle” to describe their achievements in overcoming the development challenges developing countries face.

The forces driving Asia’s rapid growth – new technology, globalisation, and market-oriented reform – are also fuelling rising inequality. Asia’s rapid growth in recent decades has lifted hundreds of millions out of extreme poverty, but the region remains home to two-thirds of the world’s poor, with more than 800 million Asians still living on less than $1.25 (R20) a day and 1.7 billion surviving on less than $2 a day. Poverty reduction remains a daunting task.

Asia’s success in building human capital has been a key contributor to rapid growth and transformation. It also led to better well-being of Asian people. Countries such as China, Singapore, Japan and South Korea made access to education the legal right of every citizen.

Developing Asia now operates two-thirds of global high-speed rail networks. Access to improved water supply services reached over 90% in 2017, compared with less than 30% in the 1960s in many of these countries.

Progress in telecommunications and ICT infrastructure enabled and positioned Asia to meet the 21st century demands in areas such as e-commerce, mobile payments, ride-sharing, and e-public services.

Asia’s remarkable ability to adapt rapidly to changing environments is also reflected in the active role played in endorsing climate and environment related initiatives.

Nearly all countries in the region are party to the three major conventions and agreements on climate change – the 1992 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, and the 2015 Paris Agreement.

Republic of Korea – What did they do?

Enhancement of human resources and productivity through education; probably the most important pillar of Korea’s economic success story – Confucian work ethic stresses the value of education; provided avenue for upward mobility and increased productivity; merit-based appointments; STI innovation; agricultural development and rural equity; land redistribution and reform aimed at avoiding a huge income gap between city dwellers and rural population. India – what did they do? Reforms led to the achievement of recognisable increases in international competitiveness in a number of sectors including auto components, telecommunications, software, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, research and development, and professional services provided by scientists, technologists, doctors, nurses, teachers, management professionals and similar professions.

China – what did they do?

Foreign investment in the country was negligible in 1978. It increased to an estimated $1.35 trillion by the end of 2016 – according to a study by the Australian National University.

Over the past 40 years, the number of people in China with incomes below $1.90 per day has fallen by close to 800 million.

With this, China has contributed close to three-quarters of the global reduction in the number of people living in extreme poverty – according to a joint study – “Four Decades of Poverty Reduction in China: Drivers, Insights for the World, and the Way Ahead” – which was undertaken by China’s Ministry of Finance, the Development Research Centre of the State Council, and the World Bank, with the China Centre for International Knowledge on Development.