The island's rapid industrialisation over the past decade and its development as the main trade and financial centre of South-East Asia, supported by a phenomenal growth in tourism, constitute yet another Asian economic miracle.

The unification of the two German states within a relatively short period of time now appears inevitable. Yet there is no historical precedent for a successful transformation from a socialist to a market economy. Doubts have been voiced by some as to whether such a transformation is possible....