Unit twenty-eight
The Transnational Economic Zone
　　 Borders these days have little meaning for Singapore-based regional executives of electronics firms like Sanyo and Philips. More and more of them are commuting every day from their offices in the city-state to factories on the Indonesian island of Batam, 45 minutes away by high-speed ferry.
　　The Singapore managers are denizens of a new, almost borderless region – in their case embracing Singapore and parts of Malaysia and Indonesia – that economists define as a “transnational economic zone” and layman have come to call a “growth triangle”. Overlapping three or more countries, the zones are taking advantage of low labor and land costs in one nation and surplus capital and technological sophistication in others to build export-oriented industry and attract foreign investment. Since Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong first mentioned the term in 1989, growth triangles have begun to spread across East Asia. “Prosperity is our goal, and that prosperity should be shared ,” says Tun Daim Zainuddin, a former Malaysian Finance Minister who is charged with overseeing this country’s participation in the schemes.
　　The rush to triangulate is largely driven by two factors: the worldwide recession and the perceived threat of protectionism from emerging trade blocs in Europe and North America. Against that backdrop, Asian economies whose fast growth, competitive edge and export-to-the-West strategies earned them the sobriquets of “dragons” and “tigers” are increasingly gearing up toward regional cooperation – without the kind of formal accord exemplified by the North American free Trade Agreement. Last week an Ambitious tariff-cutting program by the six countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations formally went into effect, but if will take at least 15 years to reach their goal.
　　 “The growth triangle is a cooperative arrangement which countries can walk away from any time they choose,” says Myo Thant, an Asian Development Bank authority on the topic. “It’s the difference between marriage and a live-in girlfriend. There are no ties that bind except those of self-interest.”
　　Eager to take advantage of low mainland wages, Hong Kong manufacturers moved labor-intensive industries like garments and electronics across the border, generating employment for an estimated 3 million men and women in he People’s Republic, then shifted into the manufacture of higher value-added products in fields like biotechnology. During the ‘80s, despite continuing anxiety in the Crown Colony about its future after the reassertion of Chinese sovereignty in 1997, Hong Kong surpassed the U.S. as the biggest outside investor on the mainland; in 1992 it injected a record $39.6 billion into the Chinese economy.
commute vi.乘公交車上下班,經常乘車(或船等) vt. 1.減刑 2.折合,折償 n.上下班交通
ferry n.渡船 vt.渡運
[聯想詞]
dock n.碼頭,船埠 vt.進港,靠碼頭
traverse vt.橫渡,橫越
strand n.1.(線等的)股,縷 2.一個組成部分 vt.使擱淺
shipment n.1.裝運,裝船 2.裝載的貨物
denizen n.1.居民 2.外籍居民
overlap v.1.(與…)部分重疊 2.(與…)部分相同 n.重疊,重疊的部分
orient vt. 1.使適應,使熟悉情況(或環境) 2.使朝向,以…為方向(或目標) n.東方,亞洲(尤指遠東),東半球
oriental a.東方的,東方人的,東方文化的
orientation n.1.方向,目標,方位 2.熟悉情況,適應,情況介紹
[聯想詞]
clockwise ad.順時針方向地 a.順時針方向的
participate vi.參與,參加
participation n.1.參與,參加 2.分享
participant n.參加者,參與者
bloc n.(國家,政黨,團體為某種共同目的而結合的)集團
[聯想詞]
alliance n.結盟,聯盟
coalition n.1.結合體,同盟 2.結合,聯合
sobriquet n.假名,綽號
[聯想詞]
nickname n.綽號,諢名
anonymous a.匿名的,無名的,不具名的
exemplify vt. 1.是(或作為)…的典型(或榜樣) 2.例示,舉例說明
[聯想詞]
embody vt. 1.使具體化,具體表現,體現 2.包括,包含,收入
expertise n.專門知識(或技能等)
cooperative a.1.有合作意向的,樂于合作的 2.合作的,協作的 n.合作社,合作商店(或企業)
garment n.(一件)衣服
assert vt. 1.肯定地說,斷言 2.維護,堅持
reassert vt.重申,再斷言,再堅持
reassertion n. 重申,再斷言,再堅持
sovereign n. 君主,元首 a.1.擁有最高統治權的,至高無上的 2.具有獨立主權的
sovereignty n.1.君權,統治權 2.主權,獨立自主
surpass vt. 1.超過,優于,多于 2.超過…的界限,非…所能辦到(或理解)
inject vt. 1.注射,給…注射 2.注入,引入,投入
injection n.注射,注入