Unit twenty-eight
The Transnational Economic Zone
Borders these days have little meaning for Singapore-based regional executives of electronics firms like Sanyo and Philips. More and more of them are commuting every day from their offices in the city-state to factories on the Indonesian island of Batam, 45 minutes away by high-speed ferry.
The Singapore managers are denizens of a new, almost borderless region in their case embracing Singapore and parts of Malaysia and Indonesia that economists define as a transnational economic zone and layman have come to call a growth triangle. Overlapping three or more countries, the zones are taking advantage of low labor and land costs in one nation and surplus capital and technological sophistication in others to build export-oriented industry and attract foreign investment. Since Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong first mentioned the term in 1989, growth triangles have begun to spread across East Asia. Prosperity is our goal, and that prosperity should be shared , says Tun Daim Zainuddin, a former Malaysian Finance Minister who is charged with overseeing this countrys participation in the schemes.
The rush to triangulate is largely driven by two factors: the worldwide recession and the perceived threat of protectionism from emerging trade blocs in Europe and North America. Against that backdrop, Asian economies whose fast growth, competitive edge and export-to-the-West strategies earned them the sobriquets of dragons and tigers are increasingly gearing up toward regional cooperation without the kind of formal accord exemplified by the North American free Trade Agreement. Last week an Ambitious tariff-cutting program by the six countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations formally went into effect, but if will take at least 15 years to reach their goal.
The growth triangle is a cooperative arrangement which countries can walk away from any time they choose, says Myo Thant, an Asian Development Bank authority on the topic. Its the difference between marriage and a live-in girlfriend. There are no ties that bind except those of self-interest.
Eager to take advantage of low mainland wages, Hong Kong manufacturers moved labor-intensive industries like garments and electronics across the border, generating employment for an estimated 3 million men and women in he Peoples Republic, then shifted into the manufacture of higher value-added products in fields like biotechnology. During the 80s, despite continuing anxiety in the Crown Colony about its future after the reassertion of Chinese sovereignty in 1997, Hong Kong surpassed the U.S. as the biggest outside investor on the mainland; in 1992 it injected a record $39.6 billion into the Chinese economy.
commute vi.乘公交车上下班,经常乘车 vt. 1.减刑 2.折合,折偿 n.上下班交通
ferry n.渡船 vt.渡运
dock n.码头,船埠 vt.进港,靠码头
traverse vt.横渡,横越
strand n.1.股,缕 2.一个组成部分 vt.使搁浅
shipment n.1.装运,装船 2.装载的货物
denizen n.1.居民 2.外籍居民
overlap v.1.部分重叠 2.部分相同 n.重叠,重叠的部分
orient vt. 1.使适应,使熟悉情况 2.使朝向,以为方向 n.东方,亚洲,东半球
oriental a.东方的,东方人的,东方文化的
orientation n.1.方向,目标,方位 2.熟悉情况,适应,情况介绍
clockwise ad.顺时针方向地 a.顺时针方向的
participate vi.参与,参加
participation n.1.参与,参加 2.分享
participant n.参加者,参与者
bloc n.集团
alliance n.结盟,联盟
coalition n.1.结合体,同盟 2.结合,联合
sobriquet n.假名,绰号
nickname n.绰号,诨名
anonymous a.匿名的,无名的,不具名的
exemplify vt. 1.是的典型 2.例示,举例说明
embody vt. 1.使具体化,具体表现,体现 2.包括,包含,收入
expertise n.专门知识
cooperative a.1.有合作意向的,乐于合作的 2.合作的,协作的 n.合作社,合作商店
garment n.衣服
assert vt. 1.肯定地说,断言 2.维护,坚持
reassert vt.重申,再断言,再坚持
reassertion n. 重申,再断言,再坚持
sovereign n. 君主,元首 a.1.拥有最高统治权的,至高无上的 2.具有独立主权的
sovereignty n.1.君权,统治权 2.主权,独立自主
surpass vt. 1.超过,优于,多于 2.超过的界限,非所能办到
inject vt. 1.注射,给注射 2.注入,引入,投入
injection n.注射,注入
英语中连词while的用法归纳
初中英语 知识点梳理 关联词
语法讲解资料及练习:模拟考场
初中英语易混词复习
中考英语语法讲解资料及练习:被动语态复习
人大附中内部英语习题:完型填空1
中考英语语法讲解资料及练习:时态2
中考英语语法讲解资料及练习:状语从句
中考英语点拨:阅读理解中的长句、难句破解
中考英语语法讲解资料及练习:考前指导
优能龙坚:“三步法”搞定中考英语完型填空
中考英语语法学习专辑---形容词副词
中考英语语法学习专辑---冠词篇
中考英语语法:定语从句
中考英语语法讲解资料及练习:动词语态
中考英语语法讲解资料及练习:句子的种类
中学英语词汇记忆方法
中考英语语法学习专辑---名词篇
中考英语语法讲解资料及练习:句子种类1
人大附中内部英语资料:50个重点句型练习
中学生奥运会英语词汇:butterfly 蝶泳
中考英语必备:50个重点句型
中考英语语法学习专辑---数词
人大附中内部英语习题:完型填空
中考英语总复习:单项选择训练之C
中学生奥运会英语词汇:archery 射剑
人大附中内部英语资料:50个重点句型练习2
中考英语语法讲解资料及练习:不定式
人大附中内部英语资料:50个重点句型练习
集合名词分类用法详解
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英语试题 |
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