Second wave Asian economic tigers face woes<\/p>\n
SYDNEY (AFP): Asia's second wave of economic tigers --
\nIndonesia, Thailand and Malaysia -- face problems because they
\nare not managing their growth as well as the first group did, the
\nhead of Australia's biggest company warned yesterday.<\/p>\n
John Prescott, managing director of steel and resources giant
\nBHP Co. Ltd. said the three countries had achieved \"stunning
\neconomic improvements\" and great investment opportunities were
\nevident in all three.<\/p>\n
But there were signs they were not managing the growth as well
\nas had Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea at the same
\nstage of their economic development.<\/p>\n
\"Current account deficits are creeping upwards, and so from a
\nbusiness perspective, macroeconomic instability and a sharp slow-
\ndown cannot be entirely ruled out,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Prescott, delivering the \"Asialink\" lecture to a Melbourne
\nbusiness audience on the challenges of doing business in Asia,
\nsaid the common link in Asia's economic transformation were the
\nvery high rates of growth compared to the rest of the world.<\/p>\n
\"The key question we continue to monitor at BHP are not only
\nwhether that growth can be sustained, but at what pace and in
\nwhich countries.\"<\/p>\n
BHP expected growth to continue in the range of historic
\nperformance, \"say six to eight percent overall.\"<\/p>\n
\"However, there will undoubtedly be hiccups and variations
\nbased on the different stages of economic development country by
\ncountry.\"<\/p>\n
Mature economies like Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and South
\nKorea were now facing a variety of problems familiar to western
\nindustrialized economies such as environmental concerns,
\nmanufacturing capacity constraints, social welfare issues and so
\non.<\/p>\n
\"As a consequence, they face the challenge of remaining
\ncompetitive at a time when their productivity performance has
\nbeen declining and unit costs have risen.\"<\/p>\n
He nominated a third group of Asian countries which he said
\nwere experiencing high growth resulting from trade and economic
\nreforms -- Vietnam, Cambodia, China and India.<\/p>\n
\"Because these countries are in the process of integrating
\ninto the world economy, a bumpy ride is almost inevitable,\"
\nPrescott added.<\/p>\n
\"Managing the change from a command to a market economy is
\ntricky, and nationalist sentiments can mean sudden policy
\nreversals. So I guess there are many opportunities which BHP and
\nothers are pursuing, but we keep a close eye on the risk and
\nrewards equation.\"<\/p>\n
Prescott said the region generally faced key challenges posed
\nby bottlenecks caused by difficulties in finding and holding
\nlabor and in infrastructure such as power and transport
\nrequirements and sewerage.<\/p>\n
But the growth opportunities presented by Asia were the reason
\n11 percent of BHP's assets were located in Asia and why the
\nregion would continue to figure prominently in the company's
\nfuture planning.<\/p>\n
BHP had outgrown the Australian market, he said. \"Selling
\ncompetitively in Asia often means producing there, with all the
\nadvantages of being close to and better understanding the
\nmarkets.\"<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/second-wave-asian-economic-tigers-face-woes-1447893297",
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