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Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon – Economic Development, Political Stability and the Role of the Media in Asia
He went on to assert that the nature of Deutsche Post World Net’s business means that they have the necessary human resources to proactively aid in disaster relief in response to such catastrophes as the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, or the crises in Myanmar and China. The expert logistical capacities that DHL are able to bring to bear mean that they can supply goods to wherever they are needed. Mr Appel then addressed environmental issues, which arise around the logistics and transport industry. He stated that 40 percent of all carbon emissions come from cargo, however DHL is committed to a reduction of 10 percent on every container, truck, etc. In his closing remarks he stated that companies can utilize their considerable resources to help in disaster reduction and economic growth. Indrajit Banerjee began the panel discussion by stating that the title of the discussion is very apt. The Asian media landscape is a jungle, which is transforming rapidly; advances in consumer needs are becoming more and more important. He claimed that the Asian media landscape is constantly evolving. Recently, China surpassed the United States as the country with the highest number of Internet users. In India, the film industry is the largest in the world and nine million new mobile phones are sold each month. In Asia there is a phenomenal growth in print media. Seven out of ten of the world’s best-selling newspapers are published in Asia. Banerjee went on to point out four important developments in the Asian media landscape: 1. First, there is a growing commercialization of the media, resulting in a more intense competition between media producers and thereby affecting the content of the messages. 2. Second, commercialization is accompanied by a conglomeration of media systems. Larger companies are rapidly buying up smaller ones, thereby concentrating media power and circumscribing media diversity. 3. Third, there is an increase in media connectivity, particularly due to the growing importance of the Internet in the Asian region. Not least as a result of this, we can
Fourth, also witness the emergence of community based media and the rise of “citizens’ journalism”. Banerjee then listed the current tensions running through the media systems in Southeast Asia. The first is with regard to the commercial viability of media stations. All media systems regard it as fundamentally important to maintain public interest; however this can produce a unipolar view. Banerjee said that citizen journalism allows a differing viewpoint to that of certain media organizations as citizen journalism is less constrained by public interest issues. A second set of tensions he outlined was with regard to the developing nature of media systems. Local capacity is still growing in many countries and as such there has been a tendency in the past to rely excessively upon foreign expertise. This naturally may have had an influence on the media output. Therefore a balance has to be struck between excessive reliance on foreign expertise and gaining the necessary skills. Further tensions outlined by Banerjee related to the friction between mainstream and alternative media, between the protection of the freedom of expression and the responsibility of reporting as well as, finally, between governmental regulatory frameworks and emerging new media technologies. 4.
Sucharita Eashwar began by making a comparative analysis of India and China with regard to economic factors. China, she claimed, is the fastest growing economy in the world, with a GDP of US $3.4 trillion, while India’s GDP is growing by nine percent per annum. Both India and China have huge human resources and natural capital. Also India has evolved into a services-led economy, with 50 percent of its total population being young. Last year 3.2 million students graduated from university of which 450,000 were engineering students. India’s middle classes number 200 million and they have a disposable income. Eashwar then made the point that India is a stable democracy and because of this change is slow. A democracy requires consultation and negotiation – compromises must be agreed before changes can be implemented. China, in comparison, has a political system that allows it to make decisions much faster. Unencumbered by the same necessity for discussion and compromise, China’s