Summary

From colonial times until the late 1970s the driving force of the Peninsular Malaysia economy was the production and export of primary products--first tin, than rubber and timber, and finally petroleum. In the 1980s export-oriented industrial production took over as the leading sector economy, enabling Malaysia to become a world-class economic performer. This volume shows how a small country with a modest resource endowment used a strong political will to achieve a remarkable transformation. In the process, the contributors detail how the lives of ordinary people have been transformed in the light of Malaysia's economic success.