Location theory and its appliciability to the ASEAN industrial projects

Abstract

Introduction Since the end of the Second World War many proposals have been made among the Southeast Asian countries directed at accelerating the economic development of the region through cooperation. In many cases, such schemes have been unsuccessful due to lack of support; in other cases only limited progress has been made. The success which followed the establishment of the various regional pro- jects in Southeast Asia has been varied. In general, it can be said that the least successful schemes are those relating to issues of economic policy. It can therefore be argued that the Southeast Asian countries have failed to exploit fully the use of regional cooperation as a means to accelerate economic development. The most obvious reason for this failure is the conflict between the objectives of economic development through regional cooperation and national sovereignty and inde- pendence.