The Economic and Social History of Malaysia: Celebrating 50 Years of Independence

UNRISD Research Co-ordinator Terence Gomez will speak as a recognized expert at The Economic and Social History of Malaysia: Celebrating 50 Years of Independence Conference, which is taking place from 15 to 17 November 2007 in Malaysia. Terence is a well-known and respected commentator on the current events of Malaysia and a noted expert on ethnic identity in terms of social development. His specializations include state-market relations, identity and enterprise development, corruption, and democracy and development. Joining him as another speaker at the conference will be UNRISD Researcher Jomo K.S., a recent recipient of the prestigious 2007 Leontief Price for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought.

This international conference has been organized by the Nottingham University Business School and will be taking place at the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus. The main focus of the meeting revolves around the population growth of Malaysia from 7.7 million to 24.5 million, with the gross domestic product increasing as much as 20 times in half a century. This has created a situation where the average citizen is six times as rich as 50 years ago, allowing Malaysia to reach the level of GDP of the UK in the 1960s. The conference goal is to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Malaysian independence and to reflect upon the economic and social history of the past five decades aptly summed up in the following statement:

“The beauty, as well as some of the tragedies of modern Malaysia, lies in its ethnic and cultural diversity. … If multiculturalism is one of the goals of modern civilisation, Malaysia has indeed mastered the art.” - Charles Hirschman

Terence will be presenting his paper, The Rise and Fall of Capital: Corporate Malaysia in Historical Perspective, during Session II.