IN this very topical book, a group of scholars suggest some of the continuing reforms needed to survive the current global recession and place the economy of four Mekong countries – Vietnam, Cambodia, Lao PDR and Myanmar – in a competitive position on the recovery of the world economy.
Since the late 1980s, the four Mekong countries have been opening their economies to international trade and investment. Similarities and differences in all the four emerged from colonisation in the late 1940s and early 1950s with varying quantities of physical and societal infrastructures. Except for Myanmar, all these countries experienced war and conflict and by the mid-1970s, they all adopted some form of socialist central planning. Myanmar embraced isolationism from the West, with its economy under the central government control, that is, in the hands of the military junta. Meanwhile Khmer Rouge in Cambodia embraced a severe form of central planning, resulting in the destruction of all business and market activities.
With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the withdrawal of Vietnamese troops from Cambodia in 1989, the Mekong Four embarked on market-oriented reforms to take advantage of the benefits of trade and investment with the world economy. Vietnam implemented Doi Moi (economic renovation) in 1989; Laos adopted the NEM (New Economic Mechanism) in 1990; Myanmar began opening up its economy to foreign investment and tourism in 1988; Cambodia embarked on serious reforms and resumption of relations with international financial institutions in 1993. All the four economies became members of ASEAN. With the exception of Myanmar, the other three countries witnessed initial successes of market reforms.
This book can be read by economists and foreign country experts. -MG
(Edward Elgar Publishing Inc., William Pratt House, 9 Dewey Court, Northampton, Massachusetts – 01060, UK.)
