The Four Asian Tigers: Then and Now

"The Four Asian Tigers" is a term used to describe the economies of Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan. Since the 60s all of the Asian Tigers experienced rapid growth and industrialization leading them to become wealthy, vital centers for finance, trade, and manufacturing. The growth of Tigers was so quick, unexpected, and successful that they became known as  "The Asian Miracle". The Asian Tigers all share an emphasis on exporting, high GDPs and GDP/capita, a highly educated population, and post-colonial infrastructure. They played a pivotal role in the tech boom that occurred in the 80s and 90s; designing and manufacturing electronic parts and new technologies. Companies we see every day rose from these relatively small countries, most notably Samsung, HSBC, LG, Foxconn, Hyundai, and Kia. The economies of the Asian Tigers are so robust that they emerged from the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis and the 2008 Recession almost completely unscathed.

I would like to put an emphasis on the first of the Four Asian Tigers, Hong Kong as its history and worldwide impact is one of the most interesting. Until 1997, Hong Kong was a territory within the British Empire whereas it received great financial support and was used as a means for the west to access the lucrative trade industry in East Asia. The city experienced rapid growth, going from a small port to arguably the world's most important financial and manufacturing centers during the 1990s. In 1997, Hong Kong was transferred back to China from Britain. It functions as a "Semi-Autonomous Region" or a "SAR" in which it has a degree of political and economic freedoms from China. China used Hong Kong as an example to turn into the trade and industrial powerhouse it is today. Due to China investing so much into its own trade centers like Shanghai rather than Hong Kong, the city has seen a decline in its position amongst the Asian Tigers. In 2004, Hong Kong lost it's rank as the world's busiest port to fellow Asian Tiger, Singapore and has sunk to rank 7 as of last year. Competition from the rapid growth of mainland China and other Asian Tigers has lead Hong Kong to be the only Asian Tiger with a declining export rate. People blame this primarily on a lack of government investment as Hong Kong relies mostly on private investment, whereas the businesses of the other Asian Tigers and mainland China have continually received great sums of money from their own governments.

The Asian Tigers are a fascinating example of pure capitalism and economics at work, transforming backwards economies into economic miracles. While some of the Asian Tigers may not be as big as they once were during their height, it is no doubt that these places still play a huge role in the world economy.



Sources;
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/four-asian-tigers.asp
https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/2186202/hong-kongs-port-business-drops-out-top-five-world
https://www.idealsvdr.com/blog/the-four-asian-tigers/

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