Poor countries mustn’t open up economies until they are strong | Letters

Only after building strong industries can countries safely open up to international competition, says Richard Ross, and power imbalances are keeping people poor, writes Benny Dembitzer

Your editorial cites India and China as countries that opened up their economies gradually to international competition (The Guardian view on the WTO talks: poor countries can't be kept poor, 29 November). This has been the way to development of pretty well all countries.

Japan's economic miracle after the second world war was based on protecting its economy with quotas and import tariffs, and directing investment to industries such as motor vehicles and electronics to enable them to develop, safe from competition. Only when these industries were strong were their firms permitted to enter international markets. Other Asian countries such as South Korea and Taiwan followed suit.