Most East Asian countries placed their faith in outward orientated policies with respect to trade and investment. They specialised according to comparative and competitive advantages and had access to international technology. Outward-orientated development strategies focused attention on international competitiveness as a yardstick of economic success. The successful economies were characterised by fiscal discipline which in turn allowed central banks to pursue non-inflationary policies. East Asian countries saved more than any other group of countries in the world.
Education policy has to be closely integrated with the economic development strategy.
To remain competitive we strived to increase productivity and instil the habit of life-long learning in our people. Goh said Africa faced a more challenging future than East Asia in the 70s and 80s. The external environment is far more competitive and less generous than when East Asia began to develop.