ABSTRACT
Following the successful elevation of South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore to NIC status in the 1980s, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand became the second tier of exporting tiger economies in Pacifi c Asia. Rapid economic development in the three NECs began in the 1960s and 1970s and gained momentum in the late 1980s before it was brought to a stop by the 1997-8 fi nancial crisis. During this period of rapid growth, the annual increase in GDP of all three averaged about 7%, although income distribution was less equal than that in the NICs, especially between regions and ethnic groups. The reduction of absolute poverty was nevertheless a great achievement in all three countries.
