A development strategy founded on natural resource-based production clusters

Abstract

Productivity and Management, má ^ Caribbean-a region rich in natural resources-will de-EC LAC ' pend on how fast it learns to industrialize and process its natural resources and to develop the necessary suppliers of inputs, engineering services and equipment for this. Consequently, this will not be a form of development based on the mere extraction of natural resources, as at present, but rather one based on the processing of such resources and the development of the activities that naturally tend to spring up and concentrate around this base (production complexes or clusters). It will therefore be different from the experience of the recently industrialized Asian countries, most of which have few natural resources, and will resemble instead that of the resource-rich countries which are now highly developed, such as the Scandinavian countries, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Catching Up in the 21st Century: Globalization, Knowledge and Capabilities in Latin America, a Case for Natural Resource Based Activities

“…Many assumptions made in the 1960s are no longer valid because economic activities based on natural resources had transformed over the years (Table 3). For instance, natural resource based activities no longer form an 'enclave' but involve a wide range of related activities (Ramos, 1998) including forward and backward linkages. The incorporation of a new set of knowledge coming from the biotechnology, nanotechnology and environmental sciences, opened the potential for being knowledge intensive activities (de Ferranti et al, 2002, von Tunzelmann andAcha, 2005) when accompanied with relevant human resources (Bravo-Ortega and de Gregorio, 2005).…”

“…Other independent case studies also confirm the above findings on the importance of enhancing local capacities. For example, the Finnish forestry sector demonstrated industrial deepening with support of local policy for development of supplier firms and human resources (Ramos, 1998, de Ferreti et al 2002. On the other hand, it has often been found that Export Processing Zones (EPZs) or maquila types of manufacturing, despite providing employment, do not extend backward and forward linkages due to a lack of local 'link' (ECLAC, 2005).…”

Linkages in South African Economic Development

“…A linkage-based approach to industrial policy tailored to suit South Africa's needs would therefore have to take into account the critical role of the mining sector and the Minerals Energy Complex. In a similar vein, Ramos (1998) describes production clusters that develop around initial resource endowments in developing countries. While this is partly a market-based (or natural) process, the theoretical arguments mentioned above also justify government promotion and support for these clusters (see also Porter, 1990).…”

Improving the trade–poverty relationship through national development strategies

“…The resources can be either agricultural or mineral, and so this strategy could be linked to the last two. It has been advocated as being particularly relevant to Latin America (Ramos, 1998). It is also clear that it has played an important role in the development process in South-East Asia, where the Governments of Malaysia and Thailand followed a dual strategy of promoted exports based natural resources and exports based on abundant low-cost labour (Reinhardt, 2000).…”

“…PRIVATE CAPITAL FLOWS FOR INFRASTRUCTURE AND AID FOR TRADE-RELATED INFRASTRUCTURE TO LDCSBY COUNTRY, 1990AND 1998 …”