Driving Development : Revisiting Razak Role in Malaysia's Economic Progress

Latecomer development accounts have not only focused too much on the successful progression of Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan to developed status, they tend to represent only the tip of the iceberg of economic development experiences. While there exists accounts of the high performing economies of East and Southeast Asia much of the analysis is obfuscated by a lack of a profound assessment of policies, strategies, political and socioeconomic change, and their consequences. There are a plethora of incisive studies on Malaysia but most of them are either dated or tend to focus on particular issues. This book breaks ground by assessing the initiatives by, and consequences of the policies launched and implemented by the Abdul Razak administration since 1970. In doing so, it compares the direction subsequent administrations took, and draws lessons for other latecomer countries. The interdisciplinary lenses used offers policy makers, politicians, scholars, and students a refreshing analysis of Malaysia’s development experience.

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Malaysia at independence faced the challenge of achieving sustained economic growth in the face of deep cultural and ethnic divisions.  This collection of essays designed and co-edited by two of Malaysia's leading economists provides a comprehensive view of how the nation's development strategy met that challenge.
- Professor Dwight H. Perkins, Harvard University

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Contents

Preface
Foreword
Contributors

1. Introduction
Rajah Rasiah and Kamal Salih

2. Leadership Style
Kamal Salih

3. Nation-Building and Inter-Ethnic Integration
Abdul Rahman Embong

4. Malaysia’s New Economic Policy
Jomo Kwame Sundaram

5. Poverty Reduction
Rajah Rasiah and Kamal Salih

6. FELDA and Rural Development
Muhammad Ikmal Mohd Said

7. Connecting Farmers and Fishermen with Markets
Rajah Rasiah and Kamal Salih

8. The Role of MARA in Developing Bumiputeras
Khaeruddin Sudharmin and Arshad Ayub

9. Legacy in Education
Cheong Kee Cheok and Viswanathan Selvaratnam

10. Export Manufacturing
Rajah Rasiah

11. Foreign Policy
Johan Saravanamuttu

12. Summing Up
Rajah Rasiah and Kamal Salih

Index