Industrializing Malaysia: Policy, Performance, Prospects

This timely volume presents a critical analysis of the industrialization process in Malaysia, which has one of the fastest growing economies in Asia. Since 1987, Malaysia has experienced a sustained economic boom based on export-oriented manufacturing. The essays inIndustrializing Malaysiaconsider Malaysia's experiences with foreign investment, technology transfers, free trade zones, industrial linkages, and labor flexibility in the manufacturing sector. The volume includes case studies of the Malaysian automobile, electronics, and textile industries. Despite growing concerns over environmental damage and the sustainability of economic growth, many developing countries continue to associate industrialization with progress. By focusing on Malaysian industrialization, the essays in this volume assess the strengths and weaknesses of such an approach. The contributors, most of whom have served as consultants to the Malaysian government, suggest policy changes that would ensure morebalanced, coherent, equitable, and sustainable industrialization under national auspices. Contributors:Jomo K. S., Chris Edwards, Guy Standing, Anuwar Ali, Wong Poh Kam, Rajah Rasiah, Leslie O'Brien, Ashwani Saith, Anuwar Ali, David C. O'Connor, and S. Jayasankaran.