Conclusion

Abstract

Over the course of the period 1870–1941 South-East Asia saw a veritable explosion of output in its major commodities — rice, teak, tin, rubber, sugar and petroleum. Capital and entrepreneurship emanating from Chinese, Indian, western and Japanese firms were invested in the region in impressive amounts. These dynamic alien groups controlled spectacular flows of foreign capital into commodity production, trade and transport, processing, banking and insurance. The region itself became integrated into a single economic unit, exposed to international market forces. Nonetheless, at the end of the period South-East Asia was still largely agrarian. Its agriculture and mining, though commercialised, revealed few traces of capitalist development, and its small manufacturing sector produced only low value consumer goods.