Collective Self-Reliance and the Control of Transnational Corporations in Developing Countries With Comments on Sri Lanka's Open-Door Policy

Abstract

In this article the relevance of alternative development strategies (Collective Self-Reliance and Regional Self-Reliance) for the control of transnational corporations is discussed. The main areas where transnational corporations may be affected by strategies of collective and regional self-reliance are analysed, i. e. foreign finance of development, industrialization strategies, commodity trade, technology transfer and agricultural production. It is demonstrated how important this discussion is for a country like Sri Lanka which has made attempts in recent years to liberalize the economy by an explicit 'open-door policy ' favouring foreign investments, and which is now in the process of reviewing the results of this policy, The experiences of the Sri Lankan 'opendoor policy' reveal that alternative strategies (Collective Self-Reliance and Regional Self-Reliance) could have an important developmental impact. The loss of development opportunities and indigenous capabilities in Sri Lanka caused by the 'open-door policy' is a factor which will revive the discussion about alternative concepts of development in this country. It is also shown that because of the limited market and the restricted resource-base of the country national self-reliance policies will have to be complemented by collective and regional self-reliance strategies.