How to be an Asian Tiger

Abstract

In 1995 the Republic of Korea (ROK) was officially admitted to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). This organisation groups together industrially developed countries of the world. Recently, the World Bank has also released a study of China that predicts that China is going to become the second biggest economy in the next fifteen years if its economic growth follows the pattern of the last fifteen years. ROK is the only country from among the developing countries to join the ranks of the developed industrialised countries in the last thirty years. However, it is still a small country compared to China. Hence when China completes its transformation into an industrialised country the whole world will be affected. How did South Korea achieve such an accelerated transition to prosperity? What measures were adopted by the Chinese leadership that has allowed China to grow so rapidly? There are many factors that have been cited to explain Korea's miracle, and rapid Chinese growth. However, In the following we will highlight the role that education, science and research and development (R&D) have played in their success. General prosperity with mass consumption has been achieved in the present century only in those countries that have transformed themselves from agrarian to industrial societies. They rely on massive industrialisation, mass production and mass consumption. They build huge power plants, country wide electricity grids, gas and oil pipe lines, refineries, dams, highways, ports, airports, huge mechanical, chemical, and electrical complexes. These industries use enormous amounts of energy and material and are generally based on the exploitation of science and technology (physics, chemistry, civil, mechanical, electrical and chemical engineering) generated over the last hundred and fifty years. While industrialising, these societies educate all their citizens, banish illiteracy, provide schooling to all their children and youth (up to 18 years) and generally promote education and research. The modern knowledge system, with its public schools, colleges, universities and research institutions is the product of such societies. They generate new knowledge at an exponential rate, thus doubling it every 15 years. This knowledge is generated by scientists whose number also grows exponentially.