The Development Dilemma of the Yellow Tiger (Malaysia) and White Elephant (Thailand)

Time: 20/02/2020 - 13:15 to 15:00
Type: Lecture
Place: Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies, Room 005, Sölvegatan 18 B, Lund

Open lecture with Kamaruddin Abdulsomad
Malaysia and Thailand have achieved very impressive economic growth since the early 1970s. Many observers have predicted that both countries will become the next tiger economies of Asia. The World Bank has claimed that both countries have used market mechanism and minimum state intervention to create economic growth. However, many indicators have showed that the states have played very important role in both economies. Unlike in South Korea and Japan state intervention in Malaysia and Thailand have created several negative impacts on their economies. These has led to structural problems, technology dependency, inequality in income distribution and increasing rent-seeking activities. As a result, Malaysia and Thailand have been stuck at the middle income trap for a very long time. The aim of this lecture is to give some policy suggestions to both countries on how to get rid of structural weaknessess and get start with a new development strategy which is a more competitive for economic development strategy in the 21st Century. Welcome!