ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the features of industrialization strategies which are closely related to small- and medium-scale industries (SMI) development. With the exception of Singapore, protection of domestic producers against foreign competition is a dominant feature of industrialization strategies in Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries. The structure of Nominal rates of protection and rates of effective protection is a result of import tariffs, quantitative restrictions and other nontariff trade barriers. Import tariffs and quantitative restrictions raise the domestic prices of commodities world market prices. The structure of effective protection in ASEAN countries, except for Singapore, is biased against not only certain industries, but also against SMIs within individual industries. In most cases, the present system of protection is not so much a reflection of deliberate policies in accordance with clear objectives, but rather the result of a case-by-case approach to the setting of tariff rates.
