In last month's column, I wrote about the revolution in Korea's economic model, moving from a high savings, high investment, export-led economy to a more mature, consumer-led, market economy. That structural change is also visible in Taiwan but with some important differences.
Taiwan's future is different because it will become the platform for profitable investment in the industrial giant of mainland China. Taiwan is a truly creative society. However, unlocking a lot of that value for shareholders involves shifting the manufacturing base to China and providing the knowledge base for the mainland's emergence as a powerhouse of hi-tech manufacturing.
And the express train computerization of China (which now accounts for nearly 10% of the world PC market, up from just 2% a decade ago) means that the mainland is also a huge market, predominantly available to domestic producers with distribution networks. And that means Taiwan above all.