Bangkok--22 Sep--Asian Institute of Technology
The developmental state has been successful in Asia because of its careful intervention in the economy and on account of its policy of promoting growth with equity. However, can this lead to the emergence of more developmental states, and is China moving towards being a developmental state? These issues were raised by Dr. Trevor Parfitt of University of Nottingham, Malaysia, while delivering a talk on "Neo-Liberalism or the State" on 15 September 2015 at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT).
Dr. Trevor reasoned that the East Asian experience counters the neo-liberal assertion that policy efforts in social protection hinder economic growth in developing countries. Speaking of the post-war consensus where most politicians and analysts agreed that the state had to be involved in the economic development of developing countries, Dr. Trevor said that this led to a period of consistent growth for industrial nations in the 1950s and the 60s. However this consensus broke down in the nineteen-seventies when a major economic crisis hit the global economy leading to the emergence of neo-liberalism.
However, in Asia, many states undertook successful development strategies, including the famous "Four Tigers" namely Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea and Singapore. Similarly Malaysia and Thailand also achieved a measure of success in creating conditions for economic growth. Many reasons have been attributed to their success including the famous paper published by Tommy Koh, a famous Singaporean diplomat and lawyer, where he presented "10 Asian values" that helped East Asia's economic progress and prosperity.
Dr Trevor concluded his talk by positioning the Washington Consensus vis-à-vis the Developmental State, and asked whether the developmental state model could be replicated elsewhere.
Earlier, Dr. Trevor was introduced to AIT by Dr. Philippe Doneys, Coordinator, Gender and Development Studies (GDS) Field of Study at School of Environment, Resources and Development (SERD).