The paper points to the key role of agriculture in providing the basis for sustained development in Asian economies; their emphasis on education, health, and human development generally in providing the means for accelerated growth; their ability to mobilize and channel savings into productive investment; and their outward-oriented trade and investment policies, which enabled them to benefit from world market opportunities. African economies in general were much less successful in dealing with these issues, and in closing the development gaps, as the paper points out.