The tiger is a large mammal of the cat family. Of terrestrial predators in size, it is second only to white and brown bears. With him are associated strength, speed, power.
Among the six subspecies of this animal that remained in wildlife, there is no one about which it could be said that it is an āAsian tigerā. Although Amur and Bengal, Indochinese and Malay, Sumatran and Chinese, in principle, are large Asian cats.
Good name
To which particular species or phenomenon does the common term apply and, in general, what are called āAsian tigersā? 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 from the 60s to the 90s of the last century that each of the above countries received an unofficial name in the world media - āAsian tigerā . They are also called "East Asian tigers", or "four Asian little dragons."
And the comparison of growing economies with tigers has taken root so much that there are still āfour new Asian tigersā - Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia, which have been developing very successfully in recent years. āCeltic tigerā denoted the growing economy of Ireland, āBalkanā - Serbia, āTatraā - Slovakia, āLatin Americanā - Chile. There was even the term āBaltic tigerā, but disappeared somewhere.
The main asset
The legendary āAsian tigersā (first wave countries) had many common features in their economic policies. Firstly, outstanding leaders were in power. Thanks to their common sense, a wise strategy dictated by the geography, history and foreign policies of these countries was chosen. Secondly, all āAsian tigersā (countries Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea and Hong Kong) are deprived of minerals. But it so happened historically that their main trump card, which made it possible to make an unprecedented leap in the economy, has been and remains for centuries forged by traditional Confucian education and hardened by hard work in rice fields, cheap and incredibly disciplined workforce. This phenomenon was called the "Far Eastern character", the main features of which are: hard work, obedience, an incredible cult of education and social advancement, orientation to family values āāwas also important.
A distinctive feature of foreign policy
Countries related to the "Asian tigers" of the first wave had several more common features. Authoritarian regimes were in power, and the state very actively intervened in the economy, however, in Hong Kong, capitalism was closer to the liberal ideal.
It should be noted that the āeconomic miracleā was greatly facilitated by the active, ardent, militant anti-Soviet policies of these countries. In return, the West provided them with comprehensive financial and technological assistance.
Features of the Taiwan economy
These were common features inherent in the states known as Asian tigers. The countries listed above had, of course, significant differences in their development. For example, Taiwan relied on the predominant development of small and medium-sized businesses, whose products with the label "Made in Taiwan" captivated 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, in which the economic breakthrough happened, was more than a remarkable personality. The son of Chiang Kai-shek, went to study in Moscow, lived with the older sister of V.I. Lenin Anna Ilyinichna Ulyanova-Elizarova, and even took her last name - Elizarov.
Jiang Jinggo was the chairman of a collective farm near Moscow and worked for Uralmash, which did not stop him from returning to his homeland and heading the Taiwan government to brutally suppress pro-communist speeches. The annual GDP growth during the 60-90s with it amounted to 6.7%.
The driving force behind the Taiwanese economy
Relying on cheap labor, many Western companies have relocated their businesses to countries designated as āAsian tigers.ā Taiwan was one of them. For almost 40 years, the engine of the economy has been foreign trade, 98% of which was industrial goods. This country has established trade relations with 60 countries. Taiwan lacked its own energy; up to 98% 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 was smooth on the path of accelerated development.
Blessed 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 headed for 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 in the direction of expanding exports.
Emerging in the
country export-industrial zones (the first - Kaohsiung) contributed to the improvement of scientific and technical potential.
Survived the crisis
Within the life of one generation, Taiwan was born and incredibly mature. The country survived in the difficult 70s for it, when it was expelled from the UN and was in international isolation, as the United States completely cooled towards it. However, the government carried out 10 projects in the field of industry, transport and nuclear energy, which allowed the development of a heavy industry. Even the Asian crisis of 1997 had little to do with Taiwan. The symbol of the economic miracle in this country is the Taipei 101 skyscraper, the second tallest building in the world.
Singapore - Asian Diamond
Another country of the four - Singapore - the "Asian tiger." It is believed that nobody will succeed in repeating the āeconomic miracleā of this island nation (63 islands) for another 50 years. The father of the "miracle" is considered to be the recently deceased Lee Kuan Y. Largely due to his policies, a country that does not even have its own drinking water is now a state with the best education, taxation and health systems. This is a state of banks, unprecedented skyscrapers and magnificent highways.
One of the first steps of a brilliant lawyer was a fierce
fight against corruption, despite the fact that it is a feature of the Asian lifestyle. In this fight, he won. From the very beginning, the government took a course towards improving the quality of life, one of the main goals in this direction was to provide each Singaporean with their own housing. The father of the nation died in the spring of 2015, he reigned supreme over the country for over 30 years. They said goodbye to him for a week, grateful residents of the country defended 8-hour lines.
Member of the Big Twenty
Other Asian tigers include South Korea and Hong Kong. The transforming father of the first of these countries is Park Jung Hee, who came to power in 1961 as a result of a military coup. The peculiarity of the economic leap in South Korea is the initial orientation towards the creation of large multidisciplinary family holdings āchaebolā. It was a copy of the pre-war policy of imperial Japan. The state not only unceremoniously invaded business - it was under complete control.
Park Jung Hee personally selected several companies in various sectors of the economy and made a bet on them, giving them unprecedented state support, for which he skillfully attracted huge foreign investments. The economy of this Asian country is one of the largest in the world. The disinterestedness of the general became a legend. A fighter against corruption, he demanded that the "chaebol" leadership completely and unconditionally submit 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 by right.
Hong Kong phenomenon
The fourth āsmall Asian tiger" is Hong Kong, which since 1997 has been part of China, 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. In order to attract as much money as possible to the country, all the 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 reduced, and excessive bureaucracy was destroyed. And money poured into this city, which has the largest number of offices in the world, because Hong Kong ranks first in the ranking of countries with the highest index of economic freedom . Here, the largest concentration of billionaires is 3 per 1 million people. The rate is the highest in the world. In this city, absolutely everything is in private hands, and the authorities have nothing to do with business matters. Not all countries in this region are Asian tigers. Japan and China do not belong to them, but they, along with the "small dragons" are the richest countries in Asia and not only.