In this month’s special IMF/World Bank issue, a number of facets of this challenge are debated. Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong reveals in Karina’s Kolumn (see p16) that half the Singaporeans of his generation would not have completed secondary school. As for the future, training is the key at all levels: “If you are a cleaner you can use proper equipment and work more productively,” he says.
Thailand’s Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, lays emphasis on managing both quality and value (see p26). “Quality will foster confidence in Thai products, whether it’s rubber, tapioca or manufactured goods. And only quality products can withstand negative pricing that comes from competition,” he says.
Other countries, such as India, are laying emphasis on infrastructure (see p208) and opening up the interior – see Capitalising on the Yangzte River, p194 – to bring about development and hopefully a more even development. But there is a long way to go, a lot of people are still excluded and hence are sceptical about conventional economic policies (see the Washington Consensus article, p190). In the meantime, they will be grateful for remittances from relatives overseas, a business that is explored by Stephen Timewell on p196.
Joe Stiglitz shot to fame as the staunchest critic of the Washington Consensus and an extract from his new book (p136) makes the case for a new reserve currency that could make globalisation work better. Other contributors to this issue are Malaysia’s central bank governor Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz, Finland’s Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, the chairman of Barclays Capital Hans-Joerg Rudloff and American Enterprise Institute scholar Allan Meltzer.
Yet for all the difficulties, at least investors are not selling off emerging markets indiscriminately these days, as Geraldine Lambe points out (see p60). Other specially commissioned articles for this IMF/World Bank issue explore the strategy of Temasek, Singapore’s investment vehicle; changes in the European co-operative banks sector; Nomura’s Czech saga; the departure from government of Nigerian reformer Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; Ukraine’s rich list; Taiwan’s recognition problems; and, of course, changes at the IMF and World Bank. There is also a profile of Standard Chartered, said by some to be the world’s most desirable bank.
We have listings of the Top 200 banks in Asia and the Top 100 in Latin America, plus supplements on Uruguay, Azerbaijan (p143), St Petersburg (p71), and service-oriented architecture (p181). Enough reading, hopefully, to last through the meeting and most of the trip home.
Brian Caplen
Editor
