ABSTRACT
Throughout the two days of meetings, a few significant and highly contentious themes kept cropping up. The first was the role of the overseas ethnic Chinese communities in fostering economic growth in Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia. The conferees voiced concern that ascribing too much importance to the Chinese role has in the past sparked resentment and repression of this energetic community. And political scientists and economists were hesitant to wade into the question of "culture" as a factor in the success of the region. Yet the ethnic Chinese networking across national borders, ability to operate in a frontier environment lacking strong laws to enforce written con-
tracts, and devotion to hard work and high savings rates did play a vital role in the region's growth.
