Lessons from Successful Developing Countries

Abstract

Over the last few decades, several East Asian countries have recorded very high rates of growth and managed to improve the quality of lives of millions of people. There has never been such a fast expansion in economic growth within a reasonably short period of time. This is often described as the “East Asian Miracle” because socioeconomic development that took advanced countries centuries was achieved within a generation. Even though the East Asian miracle is associated with the four tigers: Hong Kong, China, S. Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan, other countries in the region such as China and Malaysia have also joined the group. During the past four decades, China achieved spectacular growth that helped lift over 700 million people out of poverty.