More than a ‘blip’: The changed character of South‐East Asia’s engagement with the global economy in the post‐1997 periodPritchard, Bill
2006 Asia Pacific Viewpoint
doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8373.2006.00315.x
Abstract: Through reviewing South‐East Asia’s recent economic engagement with the global economy, this paper points to profound recent transformations in the scope and character of the region’s development. Foreign direct investment was the key driver of regional growth in the pre‐1997 period, yet currently, the region faces a more difficult and multifaceted economic arena from which to attract such funds. Foreign direct investment is more selective, both geographically and by sector, than was the case in that earlier period. This paper explains the confluence of economics, business practices and politics that are giving rise to these outcomes, and concludes from this that development trajectories in South‐East Asia will become more diverse between the countries of the region, with implications for how we understand regional economic performance.
State–society relations in contemporary Vietnam: An examination of the arena of youthNguyen, Phuong An
2006 Asia Pacific Viewpoint
doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8373.2006.00314.x
Abstract: This paper offers an analysis of the relations between youth and the socialist state in contemporary Vietnam, which sheds light on the wider state–society relations. Amid rapid social changes brought about by economic liberalisation, the Vietnamese Communist Party and socialist state may no longer be the sole driving force that motivates young people. As they seek to be both in control of and in touch with youth, the leaders of the Party and state find themselves negotiating between maintaining their ideological integrity and accommodating the changing needs and desires of youth. An analysis of recent events demonstrates that youth are no longer merely a subject of political propaganda and mass mobilisation, but instead they have evolved to become an important social actor urging the leadership to further reform itself. As young people express a desire to embrace socioeconomic and cultural changes wrought by processes of marketisation and globalisation, the Party and state are actively reforming themselves not only to respond to young people’s desires and aspirations, but also to strengthen their political authority and leadership, and to consolidate their control and management of youth amid the new conditions of a market‐oriented society. Overall, this paper sheds light on the changes in what is considered to be the ‘strategic’ relationship between the state and youth, and the wider process of sociopolitical transformation in present‐day Vietnam.
‘The Taste of Paradise’: Selling Fiji and FIJI WaterConnell, John
2006 Asia Pacific Viewpoint
doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8373.2006.00310.x
Abstract: Effective global competitiveness is rare in the Pacific islands, yet FIJI Water has been a major success story since 1997, exporting bottled water to the USA and elsewhere. A bland commodity has been linked to an ‘exotic’ place, and sold to elite consumers, as a form of cultural capital. The company website and newspaper extol the virtues of a ‘pristine’ product, produced in a natural context, in an environmentally sensitive manner. Marketing these themes and product placement have enabled success in a highly competitive market. Place has been used as a means of marketing perceived taste, distinctiveness and quality.
Productive transformations and bilateralism in the semi‐periphery: A comparative political economy of the dairy complexes of New Zealand and ChileChallies, Edward R.T.; Murray, Warwick E.
2006 Asia Pacific Viewpoint
doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8373.2006.00322.x
Abstract: This paper examines the evolution of the dairy complexes of New Zealand and Chile in the context of increasing bilateral interaction between the two countries, and their recent signing of a ‘Trans‐Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership’ (TPSEP) free‐trade agreement. The two economies can be said to occupy semi‐peripheral positions in global markets and have, through the twentieth and into the twenty‐first century, increasingly competed for market share in a range of primary product (particularly agricultural)‐based export markets. Similar sets of historical processes, although variably timed, have shaped the roles of New Zealand and Chile respectively as resource peripheries, and the extent to which the two countries can collaborate for mutual benefit and transcend these roles is uncertain. In taking a sectoral approach this paper questions the compatibility of the two dairy complexes in the context of the TPSEP, and recommends further sectoral and localised studies in order to better appraise the model of ‘co‐opetition’ promoted through the agreement.
Sustainable fisheries management in the resource periphery: The cases of Chile and New ZealandBarton, Jonathan R.
2006 Asia Pacific Viewpoint
doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8373.2006.00320.x
Abstract: Chile and New Zealand both depend on their natural resource bases for their exports. This situation characterises the historical condition of the resource periphery. Despite similar processes of globalisation in their fisheries sectors since the 1970s, the ways in which public and private policies and management strategies have been brought to bear on sustaining the resource base differ considerably. In light of the strategic economic agreement between the two countries (and Singapore and Brunei) signed in 2005, these contrasts reveal that multiple options exist for countries in the resource periphery to enhance their national development by working with comparative advantages alongside competitive advantages introduced into the sector. Chile’s explosive growth in aquaculture and its low levels of public and private concern for more sustainable fisheries is contrasted with New Zealand’s more sustainable approach to natural resource management through a range of instruments and commitments. The principal conclusion is that resource periphery producers should capitalise on their natural assets, but only within the context of a sustainable strategy that promotes and enforces responsibility. The current crisis in global capture fisheries is both an opportunity and a warning in this regard.
Reviews2006 Asia Pacific Viewpoint
doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8373.2006.00323.x
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