Development in East Asia: A European Perspective on East Asian Developments

Dramatic industrial developments in East Asia since the beginning of the 1960's have turned the region into one of the most dynamic centres of trade and economic growth today. The widespread adoption of trade‐orientated policies and the stimulating effects of Japanese demands for raw materials and labour‐intensive manufactures in the course of her own development have been major factors contributing to the rapid‐growth industrialisation process still taking place in the region. The rapid‐growth trend is reflected in the dramatic increase of manufactured products exported from these countries. It has long passed the point of mere regional importance, but the appreciation of its significance and implications for the economies of the rest of the world is not keeping pace.