Japanese Transnational Corporations in Malaysia's State Sponsored Heavy Industrialization Drive: The HICOM Automobile and Steel Projects
1989; University of British Columbia; Volume: 62; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês
10.2307/2759673
ISSN1715-3379
Autores Tópico(s)Socioeconomic Development in Asia
ResumoN BECOMING PRIME MINISTER OF MALAYSIA IN 1981, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad launched a large-scale, state-sponsored heavy industrialization drive. This effort was to rely heavily on Japanese capital, technology, and finance. Joint ventures were to be established between the recently formed, 100-percent-government-owned Heavy Industries Corporation of Malaysia (HICOM) and selected Japanese transnational corporations. This multiventure drive was initially to center on motor vehicle and steel projects. HICOM negotiated joint ventures for auto manufacture, Perusahaan Otomobil Nasional (PROTON), with Mitsubishi Motor Corporation (MMC) and Mitsubishi Corporation (MC), and for a steel complex, Perwaja Trengganu Sdn. Bhd. (Perwaja) with a consortium of eightJapanese firms led by Nippon Steel Corporation (NSC). While national leaders had long attempted to promote manufacturing, Mahathir's strategy represented a new departure in industrial policy. These projects were part of his larger effort to restructure Malaysia's political economy' and to increase the
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