Archive for March, 2011
The Remarkable Story Behind Singapore Economic Development
Singapore economic development journey was not paved. Today Singapore vibrant economy is considered short of a miracle. Despite the many obstacles facing them, Singapore managed to attain prosperity in a short span of time.
The island city has some four million residents. Also considered as the smallest nation in the entire Southeast Asia, most Singaporeans live in high-rise buildings and commute using public transport.
In 1819, Europeans settled in Singapore. The British East India Company, managed by Sir Stamford Raffles, created a post for spice trading. Singapore became a commercial and military center of the British Empire in Southeast Asia.
After World War II, Singapore experienced marked changes in technology and in politics. The small island-state decided to implement industrialization in the 1950s. The Singaporeans decided that it is time to separate from their role as entrepot.
The government came up with the policy to join the industrial revolution which had affected countries at that time. The economic development plans mostly revolve around providing employment opportunities to the people. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: international conferenceRelated posts
Mobilising African People For Economic Development
For meaningful economic development to take place, the human resource available must be mobilized. For effective mobilization to occur, leadership must be seen to be democratic and understand human values and their sensibilities. Democracy is therefore at the centre of mobilizing African people for economic development.
I recently had a meeting with the Chairman of the Labour Party of Holland (PVDA) in Amsterdam and in the course of the discussion, she said ‘I cannot imagine myself living without democracy’. The statement by this noble woman is very profound, very true and yet eluding many nations.
The number one resource of every nation or continent for her development is her people. At the centre of mobilizing people as said earlier is true democracy. Democracy should not end after elections, democracy means more than queuing and voting once every four, five or seven years for our leaders. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: international conferenceRelated posts
Infrastructure and Economic Development
On a recent trip to a developing country I became more aware of the influence of infrastructure and its impact on economic and business development.
The final conclusion: without a solid infrastructure the economic development and human potential of a town, region, or country will be less than optimal.
The consequences are that both economic and human potential is restricted not only lowering the standard of living but shattering dreams, reducing opportunities and killing innovation.
Perhaps the most obvious symptom of a weak infrastructure is that people will do what they have to do to survive. On Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the basics like food and clothing come first. Economies with weak infrastructures usually evolve into subsistence economies.
What are the outward symptoms of a subsistence economy? For one thing, everybody hustles the basics. Everyone opens a small store at their house (or hut) or becomes a street vendor. Basic commodities become cheaper and the margins for selling these commodities become quite small. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: international conference