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Southeast Asia is going through tremendous changes. The market-oriented economies of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand have been showing robust growth, particularly before the Asian financial crisis of 1997/98. The transitional economies of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam are also exhibiting signs of economic awakening and revival after years of internal political and social turmoil. Despite these encouraging signs, the region still has a long road ahead to achieve developed nation status. Southeast Asia: The Long Road Ahead is a serious and concise study on various important economic aspects of Southeast Asia. Existing economic studies on the region are mainly topical in nature. Most of the publications only attempt to offer a partial treatment of the issues and fail to examine these issues in a holistic manner. The objective of this book is to provide a more complete cross-country discussion on the economic issues and problems facing Southeast Asia. The book critically examines the multiple facets of changes and problems that have been and will be encountered by Southeast Asia.
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SOUTHEAST ASIS The Long Road Ahead Second Edition SOUTHEAST ASIA The Long Road Ahead Second Edition LIM Chong Yah Professor of Economics Nanyang Technological University W World Scientific NEW JERSEY · LONDON · SINGAPORE · SHANGHAI · HONG KONG · TAIPEI · CHENNAI This page intentionally left blank Published by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd. 5 Toh Tuck Link, Singapore 596224 USA office: Suite 202, 1060 Main Street, River Edge, NJ 07661 UK office: 57 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9HE British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Proceeds from the royalties of this book will be paid direct to the NTU Student Emergency Fund. SOUTHEAST ASIA: THE LONG ROAD AHEAD (Second Edition) Copyright © 2004 by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd. All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without written permission from the Publisher. For photocopying of material in this volume, please pay a copying fee through the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. In this case permission to photocopy is not required from the publisher. ISBN 981-238-724-2 ISBN 981-238-725-0 (pbk) Printed in Singapore. (00)copyright.p65 1 1/5/04, 4:25 PM v For My Loved Ones NANA FERN & YANG, WUN & CHRIS, LYNN & GREGOR, RON & CLAIR SHENGWU, HUANWU, SHIMEI, SHIQUAN, SHAOWU, SHIWEI (01)dedication.p65 5 12/10/03, 10:06 AM This page intentionally left blank vii vii About the Author Born in the British Straits Settlement of Malacca in 1932, he was awarded a Malacca Settlement Scholarship to study Economics at the University of Malaya, then located in Singapore. Later, he won a British Commonwealth Scholarship to read Economics at the University of Oxford, where he obtained his doctorate degree. He taught Economics at the University of Malaya (in Kuala Lumpur), where he became the first Head of the Division of Applied Economics. Subsequently, he was Reader and later Professor and Senior Professor of Economics at the University of Singapore (later renamed the National University of Singapore), where he was also Head of the Department. He is currently Professor of Economics at the Nanyang Technological University and Emeritus Professor at the National University of Singapore. For nearly thr