**Tiie following are excerpts from the author's address of welcome at the recently held International Seminar on Learning from Elast Asia: Lessens for South Asia organised By the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD). Ine author is Executive Chairman of CPD.

THE process whereby the countries of East Asia, in a historically short period, transformed themselves from largely agricultural, undiversified, backward and stagnant economies into the most dynamic part of the glopal econ omy has deservedly been proclaimed as the East Aslan rrur a tie This miracle first transformed Japan which moved, within a quarter of a century from a war-devastated economy Yo become a global economic superpower Then the four tigers. South Korea. Taiwan Hong Kong and Singapore moved from poor agricultural or entrepot economies into modern Indus trialised upper middle and even upper income economies again within two decades Now. over the last decade We have witnessed the dynamism of the South East Asian economies of Thailand Malaysia and most recently Indonesia, which are transforming themselves almost as rapidly as the East Asians However most remarkable of all has been the transformation of China, which In the last decade, has emerged as the world s fastest growing economy. to the extent that It Is now predicted that In the next quarter of a century the GDP of China could exceed that of the United States.

The countries of South Asia who today, after nearly half a century of national existence, remain mired In poverty. In a state of structural atrophy and appear to be taking a painfully long time to reform themselves onto a sustainable growth path which could help to alleviate our pervasive poverty, all have much to learn from our Eastern neighbours. To understand the nature of the East Asian transformations must be for us in South Asia, part of a learning process which is worth a thousand text books on development economics and paper policies built on consultancy reports. Our fellow Asians have transformed themselves, before our eyes. The East Asian countries thus remain living demonstrations of the art of the possible in the development process.

Yet we in South Asia, whilst trying to understand and in part follow the East Asian experience, should not do so blindly. Each of Our countries ■ have our own socio-political inheritance. our own institutions, culture and historical circumstances, so that the very process of applied learning needs to be treated as a highly skilled task to be assimilated with sensitivity and understanding. We will try to understand the capacity of the East Asians to attain sustained economic growth. alleviate poverty through effective policies and sound governance. We will in the process try to understand tne limitations of South Asia and particularly Bangladesh in this area to help us understand what aspects of the East Asian experience are appropriate to our conditions.

Attempts to diagnose the East Asian experience have, in the last few years, attracted the attention of the multilateral development agencies, academic scholars of development and even the attention of discerning policymakers in particular developing coun- tries. The Japanese govern ment has been particularly interested to support this process of u nderst and ing the East Asian experience. They have funded a number of such studies by international agencies and sponsored a number of conferences on this subject. The World Bank s East Asian Miracle study was one such Japanese supported initiative. UNESCAP in Bangkok undertook studies to support a regional conference to discuss the World Bank study Most recently Japan underwrote a study on this same theme by UNCTAD In Geneva. The OECF of Japan has itself sponsored comments by well known experts and seminars held in Japan to discuss the conclu-sions of the East Asia Miracle study

To interpret the East Asian experience the World Bank study, the ESCAP study on East Asia and the UNCTAD study — the three studies on East Asia — have been most instructive. with a number of points in common but also demonstrate some sharp differences In their respective interpretations of the East Asian experience This variation in perception of the East Asian experience has also characterised the academic debate on development

It la only appropriate that wo should have experts from East and South East Asia to provide us with their own interpretation of their development experience If East Asia s experiences are to be put to use it can only be done In the specific context of Individual countries.

As the ultimate measure of Bangladesh's commitment to the goal of economic transformation. we are privileged to turn to Sheikh Hasina. the Prime Minister of Bangladesh Faced with not only the need to familiarise herself with the practise of governance, after two decades of absence of her party from office, she also has to cope with the enormous Coblems facing any Prime inlster of Bangladesh. 1 interpret this as a measure of the priority she attaches to the development of Bangladesh, her readiness to learn from the experience of others and above all a refreshing openness of mind to new ideas. We hope this will be a tradition she will set for her adminls tration in the years ahead where she and her colleagues will be receptive to knowledge. from within and without, in discharging their historic responsibility to the people of the nation.

We hope that the efforts invested by the Centre for Policy Dialogue, an organisation designed to bring together political leaders, scholars, business leaders. NGO's and professional expertise to collectively search for solutions to Bangladesh’s myriad problems, will serve some positive purpose. The Centre is engaged in an ongoing study on the Governance of Asia: Lessons for Bangladesh's Development where we hope to maintain an ongoing research interest in analysing the East Asian experience and drawing upon it to see what is serviceable for Bangladesh. This process remains designed to influence policies to build a better future for the people of Bangladesh.