China owes its manufacturing prowess to the establishment of Social Economic Zones which brought together foreign investment, local Government and cheap labour migration from the countryside..
the central Government set the overall plans and regulated imports and exports, was Local Government that attended to the detail such as land development , infrastructure and social housing.
missed the boat here in the 1980s when the emphasis was (and still is) on jobs, jobs, jobs and eave the rest to the Multinationals.
we can still set up Special Economic Zones to counter our manufacturing weaknesses at the same time capitalise on our strengths but we are simply too lazy to have a go. rather punt on the footie or the GGs ......what does one say...eh?
