công nghiệp hóa. Bài kế tiếp sẽ trình bày kinh nghiệm thành công của các
nước đã công nghiệp hóa theo định hướng xuất khẩu.
(Saigon Times Daily ngày 17-3-2003)
49. Industrialization Through Exports
If high-cost industrialization often leads to stagnation, what is the
alternative? Several nations have had success with export-led
industrialization. In this strategy, both foreign and domestic firms find
niches in world markets where they can compete and expand. By exporting,
they learn to respond to changes in demand, technology, and quality. There
is constant pressure to improve and innovate. Since global markets are
huge, the exporting firm can benefit from economies of scale, even in a
small domestic market. Consider Vietnam, whose current GDP is about
one-third of Singapore's. The country also has a small domestic market for
many industrial products. Its auto industry, for example, sells 25,000 cars a
year, while several hundred thousand cars are needed for economies of
scale.
Exporters prefer to have local sources of supply, so it is common for
clusters of smaller firms to spring up and provide inputs. Marketing, repair,
and design services also are developed. The result is a broad, deep and
dynamic industrial sector that can respond well to unexpected changes.
This helped Korea and Taiwan respond to world oil shocks or recent
financial crises better than inward looking nations in Asia or Latin
America. Hong Kong and Singapore also followed this approach and did
very well.
It is important to note that export-led industrialization also has a lot of
local production for the home market. But it is production that competes
with imports with modest protection. This is what AFTA, the BTA, and the
WTO all require. If Vietnam meets its treaty commitments, it will have to
