Southeast Asia: The Long Road Ahead

Southeast Asia is going through tremendous changes. The market-oriented economies of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand have been showing robust growth, particularly before the Asian financial crisis of 1997/98. The transitional economies of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam are also exhibiting signs of economic awakening and revival after years of internal political and social turmoil. Despite these encouraging signs, the region still has a long road ahead to achieve developed nation status.

Southeast Asia: The Long Road Ahead is a serious and concise study on various important economic aspects of Southeast Asia. Existing economic studies on the region are mainly topical in nature. Most of the publications only attempt to offer a partial treatment of the issues and fail to examine these issues in a holistic manner. The objective of this book is to provide a more complete cross-country discussion on the economic issues and problems facing Southeast Asia. Besides critically examining the multiple facets of changes and problems that have been and will be encountered by Southeast Asia, the book also presents a lucid exposition on the prospects of the region. However, it does not stop there. It moves on to provide pointers and suggestions on how Southeast Asian countries should proceed with their development options and processes. The book should be of interest to economists, graduate students on Southeast Asia and all those who want to have a better knowledge and understanding of the important Southeast Asian region.

In this latest edition, data were updated and new emerging trends explored. A significant portion of the text was redrafted so as to make this edition more compact and concise than the earlier ones. New "Suggested Discussion Topics" are added, and contemporary issues such as the Global Financial Tsunami, Asian economic integration and Michael Spence's World Bank Report are also dealt with.