skip to main content

The SIJORI Growth Triangle: Progress, Problems and Prospect

*Xu Xiaodong  -  College of History, Culture, and Tourism, Guangxi Normal University, China

Citation Format:
Abstract

The Singapore-Johor-Riau Growth Triangle established in the late 1980s is the first regional cooperation framework in Southeast Asia. However, such a promising framework ran into a dilemma after ten years of development. Main factors accounting for its unanticipated limited progress include uneven regional economic performance, divergent individual interests at all levels, rising social problems, and uncertain external environment. A thorough review of the growth triangle with special attention on the progress as well as the issues be inspiring for the further promotion of the regional cooperation, which requires dynamics both internal and external. The first category of dynamics includes the design of a unified administrative institution, coordination between public and private sectors, more liberal policies, the proper understanding of social and knowledgeable elements, the role of overseas Chinese and the utilization of historical legacies. The other category mainly underlines utilizing external stimuli outside the region, especially China’s Maritime Silk Road Initiative (MSRI).

Fulltext View|Download
Keywords: SIJORI; Growth Triangle; Maritime Silk Road Initiative; Singapore; Johor; Riau Islands.

Article Metrics:

  1. Acharya, A. “Transnational Production and Security: South East Asia’s ‘Growth Triangles’,” Contemporary South East Asia. Vol. 17, No. 2, 1995, pp. 173-185
  2. Chen, H. I. A. Transnational Sub-regional Cooperation in Practice: Dynamics of Micro-regionalism and Micro-regionalisation in the East Asia Pacific. (Ph. D. Dissertation, University of York, 2009)
  3. Chou, Cynthia. “Multiple Realities of the Growth Triangle: Mapping Knowledge and the Politics of Mapping,” Asia Pacific Viewpoint, Vol. 47, No. 2, 2006, pp. 241-256
  4. Chou, Cynthia. The Orang Suku Laut of Riau, Indonesia: the Inalienable Gift of Territory. (Routledge, 2010)
  5. Das, Gurudas, Ujjwal K. Paul and Tanuj Mathur. “Sub-regional Cooperation for the Development of Landlocked Peripheral Areas: The Case of BCIM,” South Asian Survey, Vol. 20, No. 1, 2013, pp. 74-93
  6. East Asia Analytical Unit. Growth Triangles of South East Asia. (Parkes, ACT: East Asia Analytical Unit, 1973), pp. 33-35
  7. Ethier, Wilfred J. "The New Regionalism," The Economic Journal, Vol. 108, No. 449, 1998, pp. 1149-1161
  8. Ford, Michele and Lenore Lyons, “Outsourcing Border Security: NGO Involvement in the Monitoring, Processing and Assistance of Indonesian Nationals Returning Illegally by Sea,” Contemporary Southeast Asia, Vol. 35, No. 2, Special Focus: New Actors in Maritime Security Governance in Southeast Asia, 2013, pp. 215-234
  9. Grundy-Warr (et al). “Fragmented Integration in the Singapore-Indonesian Border Zone: Southeast Asia's 'Growth Triangle' against the Global Economy,” International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Vol. 23, No. 2, 1999, pp. 304-328
  10. Ho, K. C. and A. So. “Semi-periphery and Borderland Integration: Singapore and Hong Kong Experiences,” Political Geography, Vol. 16, No. 3, 1997, pp. 241-259
  11. Hutchinson, Francis E. and Terence Chong (eds.). The SIJORI Cross-Border Region: Transnational Politics, Economics, and Culture. (Singapore: ISEAS Publishing, 2016)
  12. Huff, W. G. and L. Angeles. “Globalization, Industrialization and Urbanization in Pre-World War II Southeast Asia,” Explorations in Economic History, Vol. 48, No. 1, 2011, pp. 20-36
  13. Hughes, D. W. and D. W. Holland. “Core-Periphery Economic Linkage: A Measure of Spread and Possible Backwash Effects for the Washington Economy,” Land Economics, Vol. 700, No. 3, 1994, pp. 364-377
  14. Koch, G. G. “Economic Analysis of Asian Growth Triangles: The Johor-Singapore-Riau Growth Triangle,” Papers on Languages and Cultures, Vol. 7, 2000, pp. 43-54
  15. Kottaridi, C. “The ‘Core–periphery’ Pattern of FDI-led Growth and Production Structure in the EU,” Applied Economy, Vol. 37, No. 1, 2005, pp. 99-113
  16. Lee, Tsao Yuan (ed.) Growth Triangle: The Johor-Singapore-Riau Experience. (Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 1991)
  17. Leung, S. T. Improving Southeast Asian Security within the ASEAN Framework: Insurgencies and Counterinsurgencies. (BiblioScholar, 2012)
  18. Locher-Scholten, E. “Dutch Expansion in the Indonesian Archipelago around 1900 and the Imperialism Debate,” Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, Vol. 25, No. 1, 1994, pp. 91-111
  19. Long, Nicholas. “Bordering on Immoral: Piracy, Education, and the Ethics of cross-border Cooperation in the Indonesia-Malaysia- Singapore Growth Triangle,” Anthropological Theory, Vol. 11, No. 4, 2011, pp. 441–446
  20. M. Thant (ed.). Growth Triangles in Asia; A New Approach to Regional Economic Cooperation. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998)
  21. Olzak, S. “Ethnic Protest in Core and Periphery States,” Ethnic and Racial Studies, Vol. 21, No. 2, 1998, pp. 187-217
  22. Pangestu, M. (et al). Intra-ASEAN Economic Cooperation: A New Perspective. (Jakarta: Centre for Strategic and International Studies, 1991)
  23. Phelps, N. A. “Triangular Diplomacy Writ Small: The Political Economy of the Indonesia-Malaysia-Singapore Growth Triangle,” The Pacific Review, Vol. 17, No. 3, 2005, pp. 341-368
  24. Peng, Dajin. “Subregional Economic Zones and Integration in East Asia,” Political Science Quarterly, Vol. 117, No. 4, 2002/2003, pp. 613-641
  25. Rizzo, Agatino and J. Glasson. “City Profile; Iskandar Malaysia,” City, Vol. 29, 2012, pp. 417-427
  26. Sasse, G. “The Role of Regionalism,” Journal of Democracy, Vol. 21, No. 3, 2010, pp. 99-106
  27. Sparke, Matthew, James D. Sidaway, Tim Bunnell and Carl Grundy-Warr. “Triangulating the Borderless World: Geographies of Power in the Indonesia-Malaysia-Singapore Growth Triangle,” Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, New Series, Vol. 29, No. 4, 2004, pp. 485-498
  28. Stejskal, J. and P. Hajek. “Competitive Advantage Analysis: A Novel Model for Industrial Clusters Identification,” Journal of Business Economics and Management, Vol. 13, No. 2, 2012, pp. 344-365
  29. Suryadinata, L. Ethnic Chinese in Contemporary Indonesia. (Singapore: Chinese Heritage Centre and Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2008)
  30. Tan, Danielle. “The Greater Mekong Subregion Programme: Reflections for a Renewed Paradigm of Regionalism,” Asia Eur J, Vol. 12, 2014, pp. 383-399
  31. Thambipillai, Pushapa. “The ASEAN Growth Triangle: The Convergence of National and Sub-National Interests,” Contemporary Southeast Asia, Vol. 13, No. 1, 1991, pp. 299-314
  32. Turnbull, C. M. “British Colonialism and the Making of the Modern Johor Monarchy,” Indonesia and the Malay World, Vol. 37, No. 2, 2012, pp. 297-314
  33. Vidyattama, Y. “Decentralization and Regional Autonomy in Indonesia: Implementation and Challenges,” Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies, Vol. 46, No. 3, 2010, pp. 388-390
  34. Wadley, D. A. and H. Parasati. “Inside South East Asia’s Growth Triangles,” Geography, Vol. 85, No. 4, 2000, pp. 323-334
  35. Wong, P. K. and K. K. Ng. “Batam, Bintan and Karimun: Past History and Current Development towards Being A SEZ,” (Singapore: Asia Competitiveness Institute, 2009)
  36. Zhao Hong. Trends in Southeast Asia: China’s New Maritime Silk Road: Implications and Opportunities for Southeast Asia. (Singapore: ISEAS Publishing, 2015)

Last update:

No citation recorded.

Last update:

No citation recorded.