In May, in Brasília, the book Business with Japan, South Korea and China, written by Gilmar Masiero, professor of administration at the University of Brasilia (UNB), was launched. The book, which addresses the themes of economic development, administrative and business aspects and diplomatic and commercial relations with Brazil, makes an important contribution to the presentation of the three most important Asian economies today. According to Professor Eliana Cardoso, professor at Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV): “If you were looking for an introduction to Japan, China and South Korea, you found the right book. Masiero discusses the history and society of these countries and describes the business structures peculiar to each of them: the large Japanese groups (Keiretsus), the Korean chaebols and the Chinese TVEs. Economic relations with Brazil are also present.”
As highlighted by Professor Cardoso, the book goes beyond administrative aspects and presents a detailed history of the economic development of each of these countries, focusing on the post-World War II period. The book also analyzes important factors for Japanese, Korean and Chinese economic growth, which contributed to creating the region in the world with the greatest economic dynamism today. According to data from the 2007 World Economic Outlook report, produced by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Japan and China were among the five largest economies in the world in 2006, respectively, with a GDP of US$4.37 trillion and US$ 2.63 trillion, and South Korea with a GDP of US$ 888.27 billion came in 12th position.
Source: World Economic Outlook Database, April 2007. Available at: World Economic Outlook Database, April 2007. Available at: http://www.imf.org. Accessed on 10/May/07
The performance of Asian economies - China, new industrialized countries (NICs) and countries from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ANSEA) - draws even more attention when evaluating the average growth rate, which was 9.4% in 2006 according to the World Economic Outlook 2007 report. This growth rate was well above the average rate of the world economy of 5.4%, that of the USA of 3.3%, that of the Euro area of 2.6% and the from Japan 2.2%.
These data illustrate the importance of the book, which places in the context of the experience of economic growth in Japan, South Korea and China, as well as the peculiarities of the development of the business structure and administration in these countries. In this second approach we have the formation of Japanese keiretsu, Korean chaebols and Chinese township and village enterprises (TVEs), business structures that produced “manufacturing companies such as Toyota, Honda, Mitsubishi, Samsung, Hyundai, LG, Lenovo, Haier, Huawei, among many others [...] present in all the main markets in the world” (Masiero, 2007, p.338).
These positive results, obtained by Asian countries, have attracted worldwide attention and stimulated constant evaluations of their performances. However, in Brazil, there is a scarcity of material on this subject, especially in Portuguese, which puts the book even more in the spotlight. Furthermore, Masiero states, despite being secular, Brazil's relations with Asian countries were never emphasized throughout the republican period. For example, Japanese-Brazilian economic-commercial relations are still timid, despite the fact that in 2008 the centenary of Japanese immigration to Brazil was celebrated. According to statistical data from the Brazilian Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, in 2006, exports from Brazil to Japan represented only 2.83% of total Brazilian exports to the world. And evaluating from the perspective of Japan's foreign trade, Brazil represented only around 0.5% of its total imports.
Reading the book Business with Japan, South Korea and China allows not only the (re)knowledge of the successful experiences of Asian countries, but also the observance of some lessons, such as, for example, the fact that “the formation of Labor in Japan, South Korea and, to some extent, China, since the 1978 reforms, has been more oriented towards the assimilation and innovation of technologies than towards the basic sciences or humanities in general. It is possible that the experience of these countries can illustrate how educational systems should be designed to meet the increasingly dynamic needs of large corporations operating in the international market” (Masiero, 2007, p.336).
Finally, the book manages to combine diverse statistical, historical and academic information in a precise way, associating academic theses and updated news that make the reading informative, very pleasant and thought-provoking.
* Brazilian Association of Japanese Studies (ABEJ), affiliated with Discover Nikkei, contributes this article to Discover Nikkei. ABEJ is a non-profit organization that brings together professors and researchers from different areas of knowledge about Japan, experts, students and people interested in Japanese issues.
© 2007 Alexandre Ratsuo Uehara
