What this lesson teaches
I can compare development between world regions, between countries and within one country.
Syllabus 9173, Topic 1.2, 1. Development. How do levels of development vary across space?
Make a guess
In 2021 the container ship Ever Given got stuck across the Suez Canal for six days. Who was affected?
- Egypt, which runs the canal and its fees.
- Trade worldwide, with billions held up each day.
- Hardly anyone, since the ships simply waited a while.
Show the answer
Trade worldwide, with billions held up each day.
The canal links Asia and Europe, so one blocked ship held up billions of dollars of trade each day. Production networks spread one delay to many places.
A named place with a date or figure, linked to your point, turns a general answer into a developed one.
This lesson collects the 12 named examples from the lessons in this chapter, so you can revise them in one place. Each one is also a recall card below, so you can save the whole set and review it before an exam.
Changing labour flows: Remittances to the Philippines.
Global economic interdependence: Suez Canal, 2021.
Global production networks: The iPhone; BYD: an electric car network led from China; Cobalt and the battery network.
Economic impacts of TNCs: Intel in Penang, Malaysia.
Social and environmental impacts of TNCs: Rana Plaza, Bangladesh, 2013.
States and TNCs: Samsung in Vietnam.
Labour and TNCs: The Bangladesh Accord, 2013.
ASEAN and regional integration: ASEAN Economic Community, 2015; RCEP.
The WTO and World Bank: WTO dispute settlement.
To use a case, name the place or organisation, give its date or a figure, then say what it shows about the question. One developed case earns more than a list of names.
- Remittances to the Philippines
- Filipinos working overseas send home money worth around 9% of the country's GDP.
- Suez Canal, 2021
- The container ship Ever Given blocked the canal for six days, holding up billions of dollars of trade each day.
- The iPhone
- Apple designs iPhones in the USA. Parts come from many countries, and firms such as Foxconn assemble them, mainly in China and increasingly in India.
- BYD: an electric car network led from China
- BYD began making batteries in Shenzhen in 1995. Unlike Apple, it makes most key parts itself, including its Blade battery and power chips, so it controls more of its network. It sold 4.27 million electric and hybrid cars in 2024 and opened a factory in Rayong, Thailand, in July 2024 to make cars for Southeast Asia.
- Cobalt and the battery network
- Many electric car batteries use cobalt, and about 73% of the world's mined cobalt came from DR Congo in 2025 (USGS). BYD's Blade battery uses lithium iron phosphate and needs no cobalt. So a lead firm's choice of technology changes which mines and places join its network.
- Intel in Penang, Malaysia
- Intel opened a plant in Penang in 1972. It helped make Penang an electronics hub, creating jobs and local supplier firms.
- Rana Plaza, Bangladesh, 2013
- A factory building making clothes for global brands collapsed, killing over 1,100 garment workers.
- Samsung in Vietnam
- Tax breaks and a large workforce attracted Samsung, which became Vietnam's largest foreign investor. Its phones form a big share of Vietnam's exports.
- The Bangladesh Accord, 2013
- After Rana Plaza, global brands and unions signed a legally binding agreement to inspect factories and fix safety problems.
- ASEAN Economic Community, 2015
- ASEAN members removed tariffs on most goods traded between them, aiming for a single market and production base.
- RCEP
- Signed in 2020 by ASEAN and five partners, including China and Japan, it is one of the world's largest trade agreements.
- WTO dispute settlement
- Since December 2019, the WTO's Appellate Body has been unable to hear appeals because the USA blocked new judges. This weakened its dispute system.
Step by step
Name it
The place, event or organisation.
Prove it
A date, number or specific fact.
Link it
Say what it shows about the question.
Worked example: From a name to a developed point
Weak: "There are real examples, such as Remittances to the Philippines." Strong: "Filipinos working overseas send home money worth around 9% of the country's GDP." The strong version gives the place and the evidence, so it can earn a development mark.
Watch out for this
Naming a famous example is enough to earn the mark.
Examiners credit a developed case: a place, a date or figure, and a clear link to the question.
Check your understanding
Which is the strongest way to use a named example in an answer?
- List several example names, with no details.
- Describe the example in general terms, without a place or figure.
- Give the place, a date or figure, and its link.
Show the answer
Give the place, a date or figure, and its link.
Yes. A located, evidenced and linked case is what earns development marks.