China has moved a long way in economic and industrial development during the last decades and has developed into a global player in many industries. With increased knowledge in high-technology industries, China has ambitions to move into sectors that necessitate a high level of research and development, such as the aerospace industry. China is now in the process of establishing a modern aircraft industry based on domestic efforts as well as agreements with foreign partners in the manufacturing of complete aircraft. This paper analyzes what measures have been taken by Airbus in the form of technology transfer and other supportive measures to strengthen its position in the Chinese market. The findings conclude that Airbus’ transfer should be looked upon as a broad spectrum of technology and knowledge transfer, which include aircraft manufacturing technology, as well as cabin crew training centre, establishment of a warehouse and suppliers ”village”, an engineering centre, maintenance and various service functions.

The paper investigates in what way and to what extent Taiwan has been able to develop a commercial aerospace industry and the formation of an internationally competitive supplier system, i.e. high-tech cluster. The development of such an industry has been much more difficult than expected. Since the late 1990s there have been signs that a supplier system is under development, but there are great challenges ahead, amid a fierce international competition.

This paper explores the nature and development of research in localized growth, focusing on the development of economic and industrial clusters. The renewed interest in agglomeration and localized economic growth research has come from a variety of disciplines, but ideas and thoughts about local thickening have a much older origin. Research in local agglomeration and embeddedness crosses through expressions such as cluster, industrial districts, innovative milieu and networks. ‘Internal’ versus ‘external’ influences, weaknesses of research, definitions and new approaches of research in clusters are also discussed. Not all spatial agglomerations of firms in the same or related sectors necessarily comprise a cluster.

The profound changes in the world economy in the last few decades accompanied by the duality of de-territorialising and territorialising forces has seen an increased interest in localised growth in the spatial economy. This pilot study deals with identifying an emerging logistics cluster in Jönköping, Sweden, by using qualitative and quantitative measures. Based on these findings a conceptual model is developed which can be a basis for further studies of logistics clusters. There is a need for further research on such clusters, especially their role in a global-local context as well as from supply-chain perspectives.

The globalisation processes taking place in recent decades imply the functional integration of development, design and manufacturing. In many newly industrialising economies, such as China, one of the industries sought after is the high-technology aircraft industry. China has emerged as an important international supplier of components and parts, mainly due to the drive for market access and lower costs.This study shows that China’s integration into international supplier networks has continued since the middle of the 1990s. China has developed its supplier competence by moving into manufacturing of new parts but also new materials and technologies such as composite. Supply-chains are a main tool of transfer of knowledge and technology. Due to the shift towards more of integrated cooperation in design and manufacturing, the basic production-chain model in the modern aircraft industry differs from traditional basic product chains.

The majority of venomous snakes are found in the world's tropical regions, and the majority of snakebites occur in rural areas of these regions where many people have to cope with snakes literally in their own backyard. Actual statistics are usually unreliable and snakebite statistics are not systematically reported in most countries. Many cases do not find their way into official records, and for many developing countries they may be of local interest only. Southeast Asia harbors one of the richest snake faunas in the world and snake- bites constitute a considerable health problem in many developing countries.

The empirical part of this paper is a case study of snakebite incidence in two communes in the Bac Kan province in northern Vietnam. The investigation indicates a relatively high snakebite incidence, which can partly be explained by a completely rural population working in an environment dominated by agriculture and outdoor activities. Another factor explaining the high incidence is this study's reliance on interviews rather than clinical data, thus incorporating snakebite cases not known to clinics. In Vietnam there are no snakebite data collected, neither on a local nor on any other administrative level, except unpublished data from a few hospitals and institutes.

There are clear indications that the snakebite problem in Vietnam is more serious than in many other Southeast Asian countries. Vietnam has a large rural population, limited medical resources at rural and district clinics and lack of antivenom treatment. Based on this pilot project there are a number of reasons to learn more about humans and snakebites in Vietnam, but also other countries in East and Southeast Asia.

South Korea and Taiwan are two of the most prominent examples of newly industrializing economies which have been remarkably successful during the last three decades. This paper gives an overview of South Koreas’s and Taiwan’s development and innovation policies, and compare between these two economies’ main strengths and weaknesses regarding innovation and technology. Conclusions drawn show that there are similiarities as well as differences in the innovation systems in the two economies. The role of the state has been fundamental in South Korea’s and Taiwan’s economic and industrial development. In South Korea there has been very strong ties between the chaebols and the state. The chaebols have been the greatest strenght of Korea’s innovation system, while the there is a lack of interplay between universities and the private sector. The role of the state in Taiwan has concentraded more on creating supporting institutions that have focused on building human resources, acquiring technology from abroad, creating science and technology capacities. In Taiwan it seems that there are more developed mechanisms to transfer research results from public research establishments to the industry, especially SMEs. The industrial policy in Taiwan has supported a rather close cooperation between industry and the state and increased connection between universities and the state. The weakest links seem to be between universities and the industry.

This paper shows that a deliberate policy, in the process from labour-intensive to more knowledge-intensive sectors, among developing and newly industrializing economies in East and Southeast Asia, has created a large number of subcontracting links within in the international aircraft manufacturing industry. A main reason for this development is the tool of offset, which shows that this “benefit” technique has been formalised in aircraft procurement program as part of an acquisition process. The most successful examples are China (P.R.C) and South Korea. The study also shows that up to 1995 there have been no intra-regional subcontracting links within airframe manufacturing. The future success of these technology transfer links, at the destination level, is determined among other things, by the strategy of the sourcing company as well as the installation of technology of the receiving company.