Explain The Transition From Subsistence To Industrialisation In Asian Countries

Southeast Asian countries like Singapore and Malaysia can be considered as industrialised countries, however before Singapore and Malaysia become industrialised countries it was once a subsistence country. The transition from subsistence to industrialised country began from the 20th century, after the period of colonialism as well as World War II. Thus it can be said that the factor behind the transition of Southeast Asian countries was colonialism and World War II. After colonialism and World War II, most countries in Southeast Asia were in need of economic and social change, (Owen, 1999). This was because their economy was badly affected by the Great Depression and also because of the impacts of World War II. For example in Burma, when the
Hence, the countries in the Southeast Asia were trying to resolve their political situation by adapting to new economic policies. Thus, the transitions of Southeast Asian countries from subsistence to industrialisation can be said started from the introduction of new economic policies. The following paragraphs will try to analyse the variations in the pace of transitions from subsistence to industrialisation in countries in Southeast Asia. The paper will look through the aspect of new economic policy and globalisation to explain the variations in the pace of transition. All of the countries in Southeast Asia believed that the road to industrialisation began with economic growth. The introduction of new economic policies in most countries in Southeast Asia began as part of reparation for the economic loss because of the impact of the World War II and colonialism and that they wanted to forget their past as being a colonised state before. Southeast Asian countries become independent states after the Word War II; their economies however were
Communist economic policies model involved; central planning of state economy which was mostly influenced by institutional bearings or social status, there are clear hierarchical orders of economy-where only the state authorities can issue and channel instruction this can be seen in Indonesia. In communist economic policies also, the private ownership were removed and was replaced with collective ownership-everything need to be shared and also in communist policies they focused of agricultural resources mobilisation for their industrial growth. In the case of capitalist economic policies it involved three phases of planning. The first phase was the rehabilitation and the reconstruction of a primary producing export economy. For example in Malaysia after the Japanese occupation period most of Malaysia’s export products such as rubber and tin were falling. Thus, when the British come back to Malaysia after the Japanese occupation they began working on the export products to rehabilitate Malaysia’s economy. The second phase of the capitalist economic planning was to develop the import substitution, industrialisation which is supported by overt economic nationalism. During this phase, the government are trying to implement self-reliance and too dependent on foreign help. The last phase of the capitalist economic policies planning was the transition to export oriented industrialisation. With