Trade Liberalization in Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland Through 1991: A Survey

Of the former socialist countries, it is Hungary, Poland and Czechoslovakia that are the most advanced in the transition towards a market economy. Given their relatively high level of development, they are generally accorded the best chance of succeeding in this historically unprecedented endeavour. One of the challenges of their economic reforms is to abandon the state monopoly of foreign trade and reintegrate into the international market. This article has three interrelated objectives: to review the literature that shows why the reforms of external relations of former socialist countries became inevitable, to compare the reforms initiated in the three countries, and, to analyze the complications and the preliminary results of the reform process.