Gaza is Taiwan or Taiwan was Gaza
I came across this on Haaretz the other day. The author compares the situation in Gaza today to that of Taiwan at the end of WWII when the communists and the KMT were fighting over who would control "China." When the dust settled, you had a large pool of young folks with nothing to do. In Taiwan, they learned how to make shoes, plastic baubles, bicycles, and then printed circuit board, which are shipped now to the rest of the world whether they choose to recognize the legitimacy of the government or not. In Gaza, there's no seaport because the Israeli government will not allow one to be built.
Dig this suggestion:
Gaza has no raw materials, but it does have the most valuable resource of the 21st century: a young, energetic population with free time. Just like Taiwan after the Chinese civil war. It is both necessary and possible to teach Gaza residents to test and develop software at competitive prices. High-tech exports require no physical shipping. You hit "send," and the file is on its way -Good luck Gaza.
2 comments:
An interesting solution. Gaza has a geographical advantage as it's at the crossroads of Asia, Europe, and Africa and could easily export to all these places if the infrastructure were built.
Economic development and interdependence *might* even lead to mutually assured prosperity for risk of shooting oneself in the foot. I've elaborated some on your topic on my blog.
Ooh, umm...Thanks, but to be perfectly honest, I'm just a lousy blogger and didn't make clear that this wasn't my idea, only one that I found interesting. The orginal opinion by Aluf Benn was found at http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1010674.html
Sorry for coming across as smarter than I am. It probably won't happen again :-)
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