Revue internationale des sciences économiques et de gestion

The Asian Century: More than just China

Abstract

Lili Yan Ing and Anika Widiana

This paper highlights the important role of the four Emerging East Asian Economies (EEA-4), namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam in Asia. As China’s growth pattern is changing as it moves up the income ladder, and is likely to rely more on consumption and less on investment and exports, and more on services and less on industry, these offer opportunities for EEA economies, particularly the EEA-4 to expand their economies through trade and investment. The EEA-4 could tap these opportunities as they have 3Ds: Durable macroeconomic, Domestic consumption and Demographic dividend. Nonetheless, they still face challenges of 3Cs: Credit, Competition and innovation and Confronting inequality. These economies should focus on how to optimize the growth potential of high value added sectors which will be beneficial for income growth and long-term prosperity. They have to be able to tap into its large pool of labor, while progressively moving up the value chain in the manufacturing and services sectors.