HONG KONG, March 1 (AFP): When times were booming, Asia's factories would sometimes struggle to keep pace with the global demand for cars, semiconductors and electronics goods.
But as the worldwide recession has taken hold, the region's export- dependent economies have been hit especially hard-and they are now finding that domestic demand cannot possibly make up for the decline in sales overseas.
"This is a very unhealthy economic growth pattern that developed in the last more than 10 years," said Chen Xingdong, an economist with BNP Paribas bank in China.
"Asia's economies all are quite heavily dependent on exports," Chen said. "They must turn to domestic demand." Analysts say that is easier said than done.
In places like Japan, where manufacturers cut production by a record 10 percent in January and exports plunged more than 45 percent, the health of the economy at home is still inextricably linked to overseas markets.
"It is hardly possible for Japan to boost domestic demand now and pull the economy up," said Hideyuki Araki, an economist at the Resona Research Institute in Osaka.
"After all, corporate spending on plants and equipment is linked to exports," Araki said. "Japan needs to wait for a recovery in foreign demand."
Across much of Asia the story has been the same. Hong Kong exports are down almost 22 percent. Singapore's exports fell 35 percent in January-the biggest drop since the government began keeping year-on-year records more than 30 years ago.
In South Korea, where they account for more than one-third of GDP, exports are down 34 percent.
