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15726 results in ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute

Page 756 of 787

  • VII - ASEAN Trade Policy Options: An Overview

  • Book:
    The Uruguay Round
    Published by:
    ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
    Published online:
    21 October 2015
    Print publication:
    01 January 1988, pp 199-211

  • Summary

    Introduction

    To any country, especially the one with a free enterprise economic system, foreign trade is a means towards economic ends in terms of growth, stability and social equity. At the same time, foreign trade can be an outcome of macro-economic situations. A country would want to trade at the best possible terms measured in both volume and value. This can be achieved by various means including macro-economic structural adjustment, balance of payments measures, especially foreign exchange rate adjustment, and direct trade policy interventions.

    During the period up to 1980, it was quite clear that the structure of foreign trade of the ASEAN countries was determined mainly by the individual country economic structure. The resource-rich countries of Malaysia and Indonesia exported mainly natural resources and imported manufactured goods. To a certain extent, the Philippines and Thailand also relied on natural resource exports, including agro-based products. Singapore exported manufactured goods and also served as a transit for exports of primary goods for other ASEAN countries. Thus, ASEAN foreign trade policy up to the seventies was to promote exports of primary products at the best possible terms.

    After 1980 several changes have taken place, which have affected the structure of foreign trade of the ASEAN countries. Firstly, the production structure became more diversified towards manufacturing activities, the output of which were increasingly meant for export. Also, it should be borne in mind that trading in manufactured goods is notably different from trading in primary goods. It involves many more rules and regulations which require trade policy measures. And secondly, since 1985 there has been a series of realignments of exchange rates of the major currencies, which have drastically affected the structure of foreign trade of countries in ASEAN.

    At present and probably in the next several decades, the structure of foreign trade of ASEAN will be determined by both macro-economic and exchange rate adjustments, and trade policies and practices. Thus, in discussing trade policy options of ASEAN we need to bear in mind the macroeconomic and exchange rate factors.

  • IV - Retirement Income Changes in Singapore

  • Antal Deutsch, Hanna Zowall
  • Book:
    Compulsory Savings and Taxes in Singapore
    Published by:
    ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
    Published online:
    21 October 2015
    Print publication:
    01 January 1988, pp 65-83

  • Summary

    Introduction

    As part of the 1986 policies aimed at restoring economic growth to Singapore, the employer contribution to the Central Provident Fund (CPF) of Singapore was reduced from 25 per cent of wages with a $19,500 annual maximum, to 10 per cent of wages with a $7,800 ceiling. The employee contribution remained at 25 per cent of wages with a $19,500 annual maximum. The initial announcement spoke of a two-year suspension of the incremental 15 per cent employer contribution. A subsequent official statement expressed hope of a slow gradual restoration over an unspecified time period. This chapter provides a range of estimates for the resulting shortfall in retirement incomes of Singapore employees, as compared to continuation of the full 25 per cent employer contribution.

    Methods

    First we present the percentage declines in the remaining CPF accumulations of employees who have 5, or 10, or 15, or 20, or 25 or 30 or 35 more years of contribution to make until terminal valuation at age 55. We consider seven alternative time-paths: the norm of 25 per cent, the status quo of 10 per cent, as well as five scenarios over time of return to the full 25 per cent employer contribution. Because percentages alone do not tell the full story, in the latter parts of this chapter we show projected dollar values for the 14 simulated cases.

    In each case, we use the total CPF accumulation valued at age 55 as a proxy for retirement income, since it is potentially convertible into a life annuity. Whether or not a significant portion of CPF savers elect to exercise that particular option, is not critical to our findings.

    In each case, the employee contribution to the CPF remains at 25 per cent, thus the variations occur in the employer share.

    Time-path (1), our benchmark, has the 25 per cent employer share, continuing throughout the 35-year period.

  • 1 - Industrialization, Technology Transfer and Skills Enhancement in Asean: A Japanese View

  • from PART TWO - SECTION 1: JAPANESE OVERVIEW
  • Book:
    Technology and Skills in ASEAN
    Published by:
    ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
    Published online:
    09 November 2017
    Print publication:
    01 January 1988, pp 73-86

  • Summary

    Introduction

    The development of technologies and skills has long been considered essential to the industrialization of nation-states both in the West and in the East. To the extent that industrialization was interpreted as synonymous with economic development and that even the earliest starter of industrialization in its modern sense, the United Kingdom, had its predecessors elsewhere in Asia and Europe, the development of modern technologies and skills in any nation-state included the transfer, adaptation and diffusion of the technologies and skills imported from overseas.

    Looking at the crucial importance of technologies and skills in the historical process of industrialization in the East and West, and acknowledging that the development of modern indigenous technologies and skills would be a time-consuming and long-term process, most of the developing countries bent towards rapid industrialization today have placed a priority on the transfer, adaptation, and diffusion of modern technologies and skills from overseas in their respective national development programmes. The ASEAN countries have been no exception to this, and technology and skills enhancement has become a key word in their national development efforts.

    The ASEAN countries, however, soon realized that the development and diffusion of modern technologies and skills, whether indigenous or imported, would require the availability of skilled, technical, administrative, professional and managerial manpower, together with appropriate government policies for generating such manpower resources and channelling financial resources for such development and diffusion, as well as international environments conducive to this. To facilitate this process, the ASEAN countries have installed a variety of investment incentives and reorganized educational and training programmes at the national level and obtained financial and technical assistance on bilateral and multilateral bases, while joining other Third World countries at the international level in introducing international codes of conduct on technology transfer and transnational corporations.

    The purpose of this chapter is to review the general patterns of industrialization, foreign manufacturing investment, and the diffusion of modern technologies, whether indigenous or imported, in the ASEAN countries in the process of their rapid industrialization.

  • I - Introduction

  • Book:
    Growth Pattern of Burmese Agriculture
    Published by:
    ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
    Published online:
    27 November 2017
    Print publication:
    01 January 1988, pp 1-8

  • Summary

    General Framework of Study

    It is well known that agriculture dominates the Burmese economy. It contributes 35-45 per cent of GDP (in value added), provides employment for 60-70 per cent of the labour force, and accounts for 70-90 per cent of the country's export earnings. An assessment of agricultural development in Burma reveals two major developments (Mya Than 1980). The first took place during the colonial period (1860s to 1940/41). From a state of subsistence economy before the annexation, Burma was transformed into the largest exporter of rice and rice products. The main driving force was the area expansion in lower Burma. However, the dynamic and educative effect was lacking because with commercialization agrarian class relations deteriorated, and the benefits of agricultural development were channelled out of the country.

    After independence came the period of static and stagnant agriculture, which lasted for more than a quarter of a century (from late 1948 to the first half of the 1970s). The performance of rice production was poor: there was no substantial increase in productivity or in volume. World War II, the post-independence unrest, and the lack of adequate institutional factors (such as land reform, credit system, and pricing policy) and incentives, together with the absence of any substantial change in technology, contributed to the poor agricultural production at that time.

    The second epoch of agricultural development occurred recently. Soon after the start of the Second Four-year Plan (Second FYP) in 1974/75, there was a breakthrough in yield per acre and production of paddy. The contributing factors include favourable weather conditions, the introduction of high-yielding variety (HYV) seed programmes, along with improved techniques and farmers’ positive response to the government campaign — “Whole Township Special Rice Production Programme” — successfully launched by the government during the second half of the Second FYP. The introduction of the technology package consisted mainly of HYV seeds, increased utilization of chemical fertilizers, improved transplanting methods, and better weed control practices. In 1978/79, twenty-three townships took part in the campaign and in 1982/83, the number of participating townships increased to eighty-two.

  • 4 - What Kind of Structural Adjustment Policies for U.S. Trade Difficulties?

  • from PART II - STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENTS
  • Book:
    ASEAN-U.S. Economic Relations
    Published by:
    ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
    Published online:
    21 October 2015
    Print publication:
    01 January 1988, pp 89-112

  • Summary

    The Setting of the Problem

    The present anxieties over trade issues on Capitol Hill cannot be more clearly seen than by the alacrity with which the protectionist bill, HR 4800, was pushed through the House of Representatives in May 1986 by more (han a two-third majority vote. In August of the same year, the House missed overriding President Reagan's veto of a stringent quota bill on textiles by only eight votes. It is no exaggeration on my part to describe the situation on Capitol Hill as:

    A spectre is haunting the United States, the spectre of deindustrialization. All the powers of the old manufacturing interests have entered into a holy alliance to exorcise this spectre; National Association of Manufacturers and AFLCIO, Senator Helms and Representative Gephardt, martini-bearing lobbyists and academic scribblers.

    The belligerence with which HR 4800 obligates the President to use tariffs and quotas to end any “excessive [bilateral] trade surplus” arising from loosely defined “unfair trading practices” threatens to unleash a global trade war. It was therefore only appropriate that President Reagan called HR 4800 a “kamikaze” measure and warned that it could, after the fashion of the Smoot-Hawley tariffs of 1930, “send [the U.S.] economy into the steepest nose dive since the Great Depression”. The dominance of protectionist sentiments in public discussion is best understood by the fact that the size of the current account deficits of the last two years is without precedent in post-war American economic performance. Until 1983, the current account deficit had never exceeded $50 billion (in constant 1982 dollars) but in 1984 it was a gaping $84 billion (see Table 4.1). The current account deficit deteriorated further in 1985 to $108 billion. These current account deficits were large in relative terms as well. The current account deficits in 1984 and 1985 were 2 and 3 per cent of GNP respectively. All previous current account deficits were less than 1 per cent of GNP.

    The seriousness of the deterioration in American trade performance is well illustrated by the balance in the trade of manufactured goods.

  • VIII - Impact of the NES

  • Soon Teck Wong
  • Book:
    Singapore's New Education System
    Published by:
    ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
    Published online:
    18 November 2017
    Print publication:
    01 January 1988, pp 25-32

  • Summary

    General Consideration

    WITH the refinements introduced to the NES,36 streaming according to ability gradually gained public acceptance. While casual observation of examination results readily suggests that education attainment has improved substantially since the implementation of the NES,37 it is useful to evaluate the improvements in terms of the objectives spelt out in the Goh Report.

    Effectiveness of the Bilingual Policy

    While examination results alone may not adequately measure literacy levels, in the absence of standardized tests of literacy, performance in standardized achievement tests such as the national examinations (PSLE, N, O, and A level examinations), they are the best indicators of proficiency levels in the two languages and, of course, the other school subjects.

    Prior to the implementation of the NES, more than 60 per cent of the pupils who sat the PSLE and the O level examination failed in one or both languages. Only 19 per cent of each cohort passed in both languages at O level. Under the NES, performances in the two languages at both the PSLE and O level examination have improved tremendously. For example, in 1984 which was the first year for the Extended course pupils to sit the PSLE, the overall percentage passes at the PSLE in English and the second language were 85.5 and 98.7 per cent respectively. In 1985, while the percentage pass in the second language remained high at 98.7 per cent, the percentage pass in English increased further to 90.2 per cent. That the percentage passes for both English and the second language increased to a level above 90 per cent is truly remarkable when compared to the pre-NES position.

    The improvements in the examination results for English and the second language were repeated at the O level examination. The percentage passes in the second language over the last three or four years have consistently been above 90 per cent. Performances in English improved dramatically in 1984, the first year in which pupils streamed into the Express course sat the O level examination, rising from 41.2 to 52.4 per cent. The percentage pass in English improved further to 64.8 per cent in 1985.

  • 4 - Regional and International Arrangements For Technology Transfer

  • from PART TWO - SECTION 1: JAPANESE OVERVIEW
  • Book:
    Technology and Skills in ASEAN
    Published by:
    ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
    Published online:
    09 November 2017
    Print publication:
    01 January 1988, pp 119-124

  • Summary

    Regional Arrangements for Technology Transfer

    Most active in promoting international co-operation for technology transfer for the ASEAN countries at the subregional level is the ASEAN Secretariat located in Jakarta, Indonesia. After some years of preparatory work, the Secretariat has launched many research projects, workshops and some action programmes to promote technology transfer, firstly among the ASEAN countries themselves and, secondly between ASEAN and some non-ASEAN countries, such as industrial and newly industrializing countries. External assistance has often been extended to many of these ASEAN projects for promoting intra-ASEAN cooperation.

    The subjects most extensively covered under these ASEAN projects promoting intra-ASEAN technology transfer have been in the area of biological science, for example, rice, rubber, palm oil, banana, pineapple, tapioca, timber and other tropical products chemistry. The traditional area of physical and engineering sciences has also been taken up as observed in the many projects on agricultural tools, machinery and equipment, transportation equipment and engineering for the construction and maintenance of roads, harbour, irrigation, dam and other physical facilities, typhoon and flood control, civil aviation and telecommunications equipment and systems. In addition, some medical research and workshop projects on tropical diseases, health and nutrition have been carried out. Furthermore, social-science subjects such as tourism, crime prevention, technical and professional education, mass media and public administration have in recent years been given increasing attention in their efforts for promoting technology transfer among the ASEAN countries.

    These ASEAN efforts reflect an increasing awareness among the governments and peoples of the region, on the one hand, of the importance of sharing information and knowledge on the common technical problems facing them in their development process, and on the other, of the growing benefits resulting from such efforts towards an increased collective self-reliance and resilience among them.

    Several issues have been confronting the ASEAN countries in such intra-ASEAN co-operative efforts for promoting technology transfer.

  • V - Trade Policy Options for Singapore

  • Book:
    The Uruguay Round
    Published by:
    ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
    Published online:
    21 October 2015
    Print publication:
    01 January 1988, pp 132-168

  • Summary

    Economic Structure, Performance, and Policy

    Singapore is a city-state of 2.6 million on 618 square kilometres. Historically it has developed as a major port at a nodal point between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific world, and as the commercial centre of a rich primary producing region. Since the late 1960s, Singapore has rapidly industrialized, largely as an export manufacturing base. It has also developed as an international financial centre. Further, the range of services associated with its traditional trading and transport-cum-communications activities has been greatly expanded and modernized to serve the needs of its new activities and its changing linkages to the world and the region. In this transformation, GDP growth averaged 9.3 per cent between 1965 and 1985, and GNP per capita reached US$7,420 in 1985.

    Manufacturing, contributing 24.9 per cent to GDP in 1986, is the most important sector followed by financial and business services (21.6 per cent), commerce (17.0 per cent), and transport and communications (14.3 per cent) as shown in Table V-1. The distinguishing feature of the Singapore economy however resides not in its sectoral composition but in its external orientation and extent of foreign participation. Direct exports constituted 61 per cent of manufacturing output in 1984; and of these 82 per cent were by foreign-owned establishments which also accounted for 53 per cent of manufacturing employment, 63 per cent of value-added and 71 per cent of gross output. At a macro level, the extent of Singapore's external dependence can be gauged by the trade/GDP ratio which stood at 276 per cent for Singapore in 1986 compared with only 189 per cent for Hong Kong. The extent of foreign participation in Singapore can be seen from the fact that, in 1986, the “share of resident foreigners and resident companies” accounted for 23.3 per cent of GDP.

  • 2 - Major Issues of Technology Transfer, Adaptation, Diffusion, and Development, and Skills Enhancement

  • from PART TWO - SECTION 1: JAPANESE OVERVIEW
  • Book:
    Technology and Skills in ASEAN
    Published by:
    ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
    Published online:
    09 November 2017
    Print publication:
    01 January 1988, pp 87-96

  • Summary

    As mentioned earlier, the most dominant channel of technology transfer, adaptation and diffusion and skills enhancement through foreign multinationals in the ASEAN countries has been the establishment of manufacturing, distribution and/or servicing facilities. In establishing and operating such facilities, local firms, whether partially or wholly foreign-owned, import foreign technologies and manpower in accordance with the needs, requirements and constraints prevailing upon them in their countries and the sellers of such technologies in the source countries, often their foreign parent firms.

    With respect to technology transfer, adaptation and diffusion and skills enhancement, five major issues have been confronting foreign manufacturing subsidiaries operating in the ASEAN countries. They are: 1) the appropriateness of the technology transferred from overseas in terms of the level, types, cost and other terms and conditions; 2) the adaptation and diffusion of the technology transferred; 3) the development of indigenous R&D capabilities; 4) the improvement of operating and management skills in the recipient countries; and 5) the limitations of regional and international arrangements for technology transfer and development. It is obvious under any circumstances that the enhancement of the technical, professional and management skills of the local manpower is of crucial importance to the effective transfer, adaptation and diffusion of foreign technologies and the development of indigenous technologies in the recipient countries.

    Appropriateness of Technology Transferred from Overseas

    A concern has been raised from time to time with the question of how far the products and production processes introduced by foreign manufacturing subsidiaries operating in the ASEAN countries are appropriate in terms of the needs and capacity of the respective peoples, the size of the respective domestic markets, and factor endowments. Complaints have at times been heard about the over-sophistication of the manufactured products in terms of design, quality and packaging, and the excessively capital-intensive nature of the production processes which is inappropriate in the labour-surplus developing economies.

  • IV - New Structure for the Education System

  • Soon Teck Wong
  • Book:
    Singapore's New Education System
    Published by:
    ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
    Published online:
    18 November 2017
    Print publication:
    01 January 1988, pp 13-14

  • Summary

    Introduction of Streaming

    THE Report observed that the existing “single curriculum“ 6-4-2 education system (that is, six years of primary, four years of secondary, and two years of pre-university) which required all children to cover the same syllabus within the same period and to sit for the same examinations, did not take into consideration differences in absorption capacities and rates of learning. Arguing that this system tended to favour the aboveaverage children and to penalize the below-average children and the slow learners, the Report suggested that the high failure rates at the PSLE and the O level examination could be reduced with an education system sufficiently flexible to cater for children with different abilities — in other words, by streaming them into different courses according to ability.

    Recognizing that no streaming system could be perfect, the Report recommended that the first streaming should be undertaken only after three or four years of primary schooling and that only those who fail at least two consecutive years would be streamed to the primarily Monolingual course. In addition, provision was to be made for lateral transfers between streams.

    The Report further recognized that “pupils who do not succeed in academic studies could succeed in technical or commercial training”. It was therefore important for the Vocational and Industrial Training Board (VITB), the polytechnics, and other training institutions to expand their capacities.

    Bilingual Education with Emphasis on English

    Considering that a basic objective of any education system must be to produce literate and numerate school-leavers, it is not surprising that the Report recommended that the first three years of primary schooling concentrate on the learning of languages and mathematics. This was to give pupils a strong foundation for learning of content, such as in Science, Mathematics, and other subjects.

    Mindful of the differences in ability of pupils, particularly in languages, the Report suggested that:

  • a. Those pupils who are ablest would be given the opportunity to do two “first languages” [ELI + CLl] and possibly a third language (like German).

  • b. The average and the above average pupils would be given the opportunity to do a “first” language and a “second” language (eg., ELI + CL2).

  • c. Those pupils who cannot cope with two languages would be better off being literate in one language than attempting to learn two languages and being literate in neither.

  • 5 - ASEAN-U.S. Trade in Services: An ASEAN Perspective

  • from PART III - TRADE IN SERVICES
  • Book:
    ASEAN-U.S. Economic Relations
    Published by:
    ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
    Published online:
    21 October 2015
    Print publication:
    01 January 1988, pp 115-145

  • Summary

    There has been a surge of interest in services and services trade in the eighties. This in part stems not only from the recognition of the importance of services in domestic economies and in world trade; but also from the initiative of the world's largest economy – the United States – in focusing on services trade and services trade liberalization in international trade negotiations. To date, the United States has successfully obtained the agreement of the member nations of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) to include, for the first time, services in the forthcoming new round of multilateral trade negotiations. The objective of this paper is therefore to examine the U.S. position with regard to international transactions in services, and to evaluate the ASEAN stand, stated at the GATT ministerial meeting at Punta del Este, in the light of ASEAN-U.S. services trade relations.

    The U.S. Position on Services Trade

    The view of the Reagan Administration on international services transactions is summarized in the US National Study on Trade in Services submitted by the U.S. Government to GATT in December 1983. As it currently stands, since the Tokyo Round GATT has not in general included services trade. The rationale for the U.S. initiative to include services is that:

    The international exchange of services serves increasingly to stimulate economic growth, and because of this trend services issues are of growing importance to all countries. Furthermore successful structural adjustment of national economies is closely tied to the growth of services within individual economies and to their exchange internationally. Because of these trends services trade issues should be given a more central position in the international trade policy process.… While recognizing that exceptions may exist, the study suggests that: (1) trade in services, like trade in goods, is an engine of growth; (2) liberalized trade in services, as in goods, benefits producers and consumers alike; (3) protectionist measures that hamper trade in services retard every country's economic prospects; and (4) the regulation of some services to achieve national policy goals should be carefully weighed against the economic importance of liberalized competition.

  • 2 - A Buddhist Approach to Development: The Case of “Development Monks” in Thailand

  • Book:
    Reflections on Development in Southeast Asia
    Published by:
    ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
    Published online:
    21 October 2015
    Print publication:
    01 January 1988, pp 26-48

  • Summary

    Introduction

    In a previous study (Political Buddhism in Southeast Asia: The Role of the Sangha in the Modernization of Thailand [London: C. Hurst and Co. 1977]), I contended that government manipulation of the Sangha (brotherhood of monks and novices) for political ends and their involvement in the government's programmes were likely to create a dilemma for the Sangha and be detrimental to its stability. I disagreed strongly with participation by the monks in rural development programmes directed by the government, as they placed their prestige and position in grave jeopardy by associating themselves with policies which in fact perpetuated underdevelopment. Some indigenous critics pointed out that my conclusions may have been premature. More recent intensive field-work has illuminated new dimensions of the Sangha's involvement in development programmes and has required me to revise my previous conclusions.

    One of the most innovative movements in the last few years has involved monks who voluntarily organized themselves for development tasks in villages throughout the country. Their commitment to development is a commitment to liberate the rural population from oppression, exploitation, poverty and ignorance. These active monks, who represent a vital, though relatively small segment of the entire Sangha, are commonly referred to as Phra Nak patthana or “development monks”.

    The “development monks”, the focus of this study, are extraordinary in that their involvement is independent of the control and directives of the government and the Sangha authorities. It is a response to the rapid socio political changes of the 1970s. Their concepts, strategies and approaches to development take into account the importance of improving the quality of life, strengthening self-reliance and self-respect, and preserving the individual community's culture. They also seek to assure the survival of the Sangha as a whole.

    The “development monks” are not only responding to the development needs of villages not yet reached by the government's efforts but are also initiating an alternative mode of development. The monks themselves are important agents of change.

Page 756 of 787