ABSTRACT
In the composition of developing Asia’s commodity trade, there has been a shift from agricultural products (food and agricultural raw materials) which used to account for nearly 50 per cent of the exports in 1960 to just 7 per cent in 2001 and a corresponding increase in exports of manufactured goods from less than 20 per cent in 1960 to almost 70 per cent in 2001 (UNCTAD 2002; UNCTAD 2004). It is this shift in the composition of exports that is frequently cited as the Asian path.
