Showing posts with label Thailand. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thailand. Show all posts

Friday, November 02, 2012

If Japan can, so can we

INDONESIA, PHILIPPINES & VIETNAM WERE FAMED TO BE FOLLOWING THE JAPANESE GROWTH PATH... THEY TOOK THE COMPARISON TOO SERIOUSLY WE GUESS. BY VIRAT BAHRI

Looking for vulnerable economies post the devastating global crisis of 2008? You can safely look forward to pay dirt in Southeast Asia. Memories of the 1997 crisis, and how the group of 6 – Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand & South Korea – suffered in its wake – are still fresh in the minds of people. Before 1997, these were the new beacons of capitalism and free markets. Within two years, they became the most embarrassing symbols of what could go terribly wrong with the ‘American way’.

Structural weaknesses in these economies remain, particularly with their financial systems; and with what Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman had referred to as the myth of the East Asian miracle. He made the argument prior to the East Asian crisis, when he said that their growth was growth in factor productivity (labour and capital) and not led by technical innovation. Thanks to the seasonal nature of rice farming, the people of these countries quickly adapted to assembly line manufacturing, but the services and distribution sectors remained weak. This was aptly illustrated in Indonesia, for instance, where there were some 850 banks before the 1997-98 crisis and 800 collapsed during the crisis! And as China became a fiercely competitive manufacturing giant, these economies saw themselves in trouble; also because they had developed little expertise in trading and financial services.

With respect to the current situation, three economies from Southeast Asia qualify as the red flag economies – Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam. Prof. Edward Lincoln, Clinical Professor of Economics, NYU Stern, does point out that these economies “have come through the current recession with positive economic growth.” But the internal risks are still on a high pedestal.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face

Friday, July 20, 2012

India-Ranks on top in terms of Child Deaths due to Malnutrition

India, as a Unique case in The World, ranks 2nd in Farm output and also ranks on top in terms of Child Deaths due to Malnutrition. There are huge Flaws in The Delivery Mechanism. Who will solve them? 

Ironically, India is also home to over 230 malnourished people. It is a country where malnourishment is the primary cause for around 50% of child deaths. Given this, India can’t afford to waste any food products irresponsibly. And it’s not rocket science to find out the solution. All that the agriculture ministry should do, hand in hand with the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution is that investment into developing food stock capacity infrastructure should be increased massively. India, with only 60 million tonnes in food storage capacity, lacks far behind when compared with China’s 150 million tonnes. At the same time, godowns of Food Corporation of India (FCI) are 93% full.

Yes, the government is inviting private players to build new storage facilities and rent them to the government for seven years. But even if it materialises, that is never going to be sufficient, with growing farm output and productivity. The government has to make substantial investments to increase public storage capacity.

The food processing industry is still indigenous and unorganised. Only around 2% of perishable goods are processed every year – very low compared to Thailand’s 30%, Brazil’s 70% or 78% in the Philippines. Private players’ participation can play an important role, as the lack of an organised and integrated approach to a cold chain infrastructure leads to losses estimated at around Rs.1 trillion every year. As per various researches, allowing organised retail to directly buy food grains from farmers can increase efficiency in the supply chain. Farmers’ earnings can also go up by some 40-50%. But this needs strong political commitment from Pawar.