ABSTRACT
However, long before the 9/11 terrorist attacks, multilateral financial institutions and some Western governments had begun promoting a set of policies among developing countries aimed at advancing economic development and reducing poverty. These included the opening to global markets, privatisation of state-owned businesses and utilities, and deregulation of important economic sectors. Despite their enviable success in raising economic growth rates and reducing poverty, a striking common feature of their recent economic development has been the rise in income inequality in both countries. The twenty-first century has been described as the Asian Century because of the rise of China and India as emerging powers. Encouraging competition has been one of the aims of the policies pursued by the Chinese and Indian governments as part of their economic reforms. Rising agricultural incomes contributed to an increase in demand for industrial products, thus providing the much-needed impetus for the growth in industrial output.
