Around 250 online attendees listened to Dr. Keijiro Otsuka, distinguished honorary professor at Kobe University in Japan, deliver a lecture in a webinar held on 07 March 2025 on the topic โCase studies of development of industrial clusters in Asia.โ
The webinar is part of a continuing series initiated by the College of Economics and Management (CEM) of UPLB. The activity was organized by the Department of Economics, a unit under CEM.
Dr. Otsuka discussed excerpts from his recent book titled โTransforming poor economies: Effective development strategies for agriculture and industryโ to expound on the topic.
Dr. Otsuka defined an industrial cluster simply as โa small area with concentration of firms producing similar and related products.โ
He said that industry clusters played important roles in the development of many economies at various episodes in their history. He enumerated notable examples such as automobiles in Detroit, steel in Pittsburg, and information technology in Silicon Valley in the United States; textiles in Manchester and shipbuilding in Glasgow in the United Kingdom; automaking in Toyota City in Japan; and machine tools in Taichung, Taiwan.
Dr. Otsuka added that industrial clusters often serve as innovation hubs where technology and management skills can be easily developed and transferred among firms.
He explained that there is potential for industry cluster-based productivity growth in developing Asia where small-firms clustering is the norm. In Bangladesh, the apparel industry prospered in clusters through training and skills development. In the Philippines, industry clusters in areas such as the towns of Lumban and Liliw in Laguna Province; Marikina City; and the whole Cebu Island are worth investigating as case studies of development.
In addressing questions from the audience, Dr. Otsuka again highlighted the importance of innovation (both technology and management) in enterprise development and growth. He was emphatic in saying that the most cost-effective way to acquire such innovation is to learn from abroad.
Dr. Otsuka received his PhD in Economics at the University of Chicago and is currently a Visiting Professor at the UPLB Department of Economics.
He is coauthor or coeditor of 29 books and 149 articles in international journals. His research covers agricultural and industrial development in both Asia and Africa. He was Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) from 2004 to 2007.
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