"Asian Tiger" is the unofficial name for the economies of South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:40

Tiger is a large mammal of the cat family. Of the terrestrial predators, it is second in size only to the white and brown bears. It is associated with strength, speed, power.

Among the six subspecies of this animal remaining in nature, there is no one that could be said to be an “Asian tiger”. Although the Amur and Bengal, Indochinese and Malay, Sumatran and Chinese, in principle, are large Asian cats.

Good name

To what specific species or phenomenon does the common term apply and, in general, what is called "Asian tigers"? It is clear that the designated objects are located in Asia. "Tigers" are countries. The economy of four states - Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea - made such a powerful breakthrough in its development in the period from the 60s to the 90s of the last century that each of the above countries received an unofficial name in the world media - "Asian tiger". They are also called"East Asian Tigers", or "Four Asian Lesser Dragons".

And the juxtaposition of growing economies with tigers has caught on so well that there are "four new Asian tigers" - Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia - that have been very successful in recent years. The "Celtic tiger" denoted the growing economy of Ireland, the "Balkan" - Serbia, the "Tatra" - Slovakia, the "Latin American" - Chile. There was even a term "B altic tiger", but disappeared somewhere.

The main asset

The legendary "Asian tigers" (countries of the first wave) had many common features in their economic policy. First, there were outstanding leaders in power. Thanks to their common sense, a wise strategy was chosen, dictated by the geography, history and foreign policy of these countries. Secondly, all the "Asian tigers" (the countries of Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea and Hong Kong) are deprived of minerals. But it so happened historically that their main trump card, which allowed them to make an unprecedented leap in the economy, was and remains a cheap and incredibly disciplined labor force forged for centuries by traditional Confucian education and hardened by hard work in the rice fields. This phenomenon was called the “Far Eastern character”, the main features of which are: diligence, obedience, an incredible cult of education and social advancement, and an orientation towards family values was also important.

A distinctive feature of foreign policy

Countries classified as "Asian tigers"the first wave, had a few more common features. Authoritarian regimes were in power, and the state intervened very actively in the economy, however, in Hong Kong, capitalism was closer to the liberal ideal.

It should be noted that the "economic miracle" was greatly facilitated by the active, ardent, militant anti-Soviet policy of these countries. In return, they received comprehensive financial and technological assistance from the West.

Peculiarities of Taiwan's economy

These were the common features inherent in the states known as "Asian tigers". The countries listed above, of course, had significant differences in their development. For example, Taiwan has relied on the predominant development of small and medium-sized businesses, whose products with the label "Made in Taiwan" flooded the world. Geographically, it is an island in the Pacific Ocean, located 150 km from the eastern part of China. In economic and political terms, it is a partially recognized state - the Republic of China. It is she who is meant by the name "small Asian tiger" (Taiwan).

Founding Father

An interesting fact is that the successful leader of Taiwan, who was elected for two terms - Jiang Jingguo, under whom the economic breakthrough happened, was more than a remarkable personality. The son of Chiang Kai-shek, having gone to study in Moscow, lived with the elder sister of V. I. Lenin, Anna Ilyinichna Ulyanova-Elizarova, and even took her last name - Elizarov.

Jiang Jingguo wasthe chairman of a collective farm near Moscow and worked at Uralmash, which did not prevent him, after returning to his homeland and heading the government of Taiwan, to brutally suppress pro-communist speeches. Annual GDP growth during the 60-90s with him was 6.7%.

The driving force behind Taiwan's economy

Counting on cheap labor, many Western companies have moved their factories to countries designated as "Asian tigers". Taiwan was one of them. For almost 40 years, the driving force behind the economy was foreign trade, 98% of which was manufactured goods. This country has established trade relations with 60 states. Taiwan lacked its own energy; up to 98% of it was exported to the country. Now 3 nuclear power plants have been built there, which provide more than 20% of national consumption and put the country in 15th place among the states-users of nuclear energy. Not everything went smoothly on the path of accelerated development.

Prosperous years

In the 50s, the United States provided the island state with strong financial support (30% of all investments in the country). First, the government took a course on import substitution, which gave a strong impetus to the development of the industrial sector. Then, after saturation of the domestic market, the country's economy began to turn towards expanding exports.

Emerging in the country's export-industrial zones (the first - Kaohsiung) contributed to the improvement of scientific and technological potential.

Stood through the crisis

Within the lifetime of one generationthe "Asian tiger" Taiwan was born and incredibly matured. The country survived in the 1970s, which were difficult for it, when it was expelled from the UN and was in international isolation, since the United States completely cooled off towards it. However, the government carried out 10 projects in the field of industry, transport and nuclear energy, which allowed the development of heavy industry. Even the 1997 Asian crisis had little effect on Taiwan. The symbol of the country's economic miracle is the Taipei 101, the world's second tallest building.

Singapore - Asian diamond

Another country of the four - Singapore - "Asian tiger". It is believed that no one will be able to repeat the "economic miracle" of this island state (63 islands) for another 50 years. The recently deceased Lee Kuan Yew is considered the father of the "miracle". Largely due to his policy, the country, which does not even have its own drinking water, is now a state with the best education, taxation and he althcare systems. This is the state of banks, unprecedented skyscrapers and magnificent highways.

One of the first steps of the brilliant lawyer was the fierce fight against corruption, despite the fact that it is a feature of the Asian way of life. In this fight, he won. From the very beginning, the government took a course to improve the quality of life, one of the main goals in this direction was to provide every Singaporean with their own housing. The father of the nation died in the spring of 2015, he reigned supreme for over 30 years. They said goodbye to him duringweeks, grateful residents of the country defended the 8-hour lines.

G20 member

South Korea and Hong Kong also belong to the "Asian tigers". The father-transformer of the first of these countries is Park Chung-hee, who came to power in 1961 as a result of a military coup. A feature of the economic leap in South Korea is the initial focus on the creation of large diversified family holdings "chaebol". It was a copy of the pre-war policy of Imperial Japan. The state was not just unceremoniously invading business - it was under complete control.

Park Chung Hee personally selected several firms in various sectors of the economy and staked on them, providing them with unprecedented government support, for which he skillfully attracted huge foreign investment. The economy of this Asian country is one of the largest in the world. The unselfishness of the general has become a legend. A fighter against corruption, he demanded from the leadership of the "chaebol" complete and unquestioning obedience to the interests of the state. And these family holdings have become world famous brands such as Samsung, LG, Daewoo, Hyundai, KIA and others. When the G20 was created in 1999, South Korea entered it by right.

Hong Kong Phenomenon

The fourth "small Asian tiger" is Hong Kong, which has been part of China since 1997, but enjoys the widest autonomy. It is the richest city in China.

The driving force behind its economic leap is the business climate, the conditions created for doing business. With the aim ofattracting as much money as possible to the country, all barriers to technology and capital were destroyed in Hong Kong. The number of corrupt officials was reduced as much as possible, the tax rate was lowered, excessive bureaucracy was destroyed. And money poured into this city, which has the largest number of offices in the world, because in the ranking of countries with the highest index of economic freedom, Hong Kong ranks first. Here is the largest concentration of billionaires - 3 per 1 million population. The indicator is the highest in the world. In this city, absolutely everything is in private hands, and the authorities have nothing to do with business affairs. Not all countries in this region are "Asian tigers". Japan and China are not among them, but along with the "small dragons" they are the richest countries in Asia and beyond.