Asian economic =Q=91tigers=92= a major concern for South Carolina ReceivedSPF: Pbutt receiver=nym.alias.net
The problem is that since students see that there is no job security into position with superior education, they will be unlikely to go for it any more. A...
Posted on Wed, Jul. 12, 2006
Economic Îtigersâ a concern for S.C. Palmetto State must do more to compete with Asian nations By C. GRANT JACKSON Business Editor
South Carolina is making good strides in revamping its economy, but it needs to do a lot more if it wants to compete effectively with the Asian tiger.
That was the view of Harris Pastides, USCâs vice president of research, who toured several Asian nations earlier this year.
Pastidesâ conclusions were drawn from meetings with university and government officials, visits to technology insbreastutes and reading the local press. But his greatest insights, he said came from talking with local citizens, including working people and businessmen.
About the major developing Asian economies, Pastides said:
ð China is planning to become technology independent and a world leader in innovation. ãI donât know if they can become the worldâs most innovative nation by 2020? If they do, we are sunk because all of the other buttets that they have.ä
ð South Korea is already a major technology center pushing quality and innovation. ãAn Asian newspaper reported that Koreans are the worldâs quickest to adopt new technology, and when I scanned to see where the U.S. ranked, we were first only at adopting new television technology, i.e., flat screen TVs and remote controls.ä
ð India is working to upgrade its citizensâ technology competence, especially in the rural areas.
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ãIndia may be poised to do better than China in the long run as the predominate Asian economic powerhouse. But when someone recently asked Bill Gates who he favored in that race he responded that it was the wrong question. He said that a strategic alliance between China and India could be the easy winner.ä
Other less-developed Asian nations wait eagerly for the crumbs to fall from Chinaâs table, Pastides said. They expect to become the new off-shoring location for China.
ãVietnam, Cambodia and Thailand: those three in particular are absolutely poised for China to get too fat, too sloppy, too living for the weekend, too highly paid wages.
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ãIn Asia, I saw more of a discontent with the past and the present and a hunger and a thirst for what the future will bring,ä Pastides said.
ãIn South Carolina, we would just like to get wealthy without changing.ä
However, if South Carolina is to compete in the same global economy as Asian nations, the state needs to ãadopt an absolute commitment to change what we do and how we do it,ä Pastides said.
South Carolinaâs new economy is going to need to be knowledge-based more than climate- or low-wage-based, Pastides said.
He doesnât ever see the manufacturing jobs that have gone to Asia migrating back.
ãWe cannot expect to take the worldâs Asian economic tigers by manufacturing basic commodities.ä he said. ãIt is going to have to be because we make something better or work smarter.ä
The counter to Asia and ÷ in particular ÷ to Chinaâs avowed goal to become a world leader in innovation is to have more students studying math and science in the United States, Pastides said.
But the numbers, especially for graduate science and engineering degrees in South Carolina, are not encouraging.
The National Science Foundationâs science and engineering profile for South Carolina shows that for 2003 (the latest year available), South Carolina ranked 29th for doctoral scientists and 30th for doctoral engineers. For science and engineering doctorates awarded in 2004, the state ranked 32.
Between July 1, 2003, and June 30, 2004, all S.C. schools awarded just 60 doctoral engineering degrees with 49 of them going to non-resident aliens, according to the S.C. Commission on Higher Education.
The commissionâs Statistical Abstract for 2005 shows that for the same period, 303 masterâs degrees in engineering were awarded, with 190 going to non-resident aliens.
Engineering degrees accounted for less than 4 percent of all bachelorâs degrees awarded by S.C. insbreastutions during the same period.
Pastides predicts that market forces will help the shortfall somewhat.
When the pay for entry jobs for bachelor level engineers becomes even higher, students might start to look harder at engineering careers.
Beyond that, the universities need to start reaching down into the high schools and the middle schools, Pastides said.
ãEngineering is a lot of fun. If youâre a Cub Scout and you like building that little Pinewood Derby Car, come on, keep going, build something bigger.ä