§ 62. Mr. Greenwayasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the Southern African development coordination conference held in Harare on 30 to 31 January.
§ Mr. RaisonI attended the annual consultative meeting of the Southern Africa development co-ordination conference in Harare on 30 and 31 January. During the conference I made a new pledge of £10 million, mainly to be used for strengthening the regional transport link between Malawi and the port of Dar es Salaam. That sum is in addition to the £12 million that we have pledged at previous meetings.
§ Mr. GreenwayI welcome the aid for improving the infrastructure of the area, but can my right hon. Friend assure me that aid is going into projects that will help the economy to become self-supporting in due course?
§ Mr. RaisonMy hon. Friend is absolutely right. It is always a primary objective of our aid programme to help the economies concerned to strengthen, so that they can become more self-reliant.
§ Mr. Jack Straw (Blackburn)On a point of order, Mr. Speaker.
§ Mr. SpeakerI shall take the point of order immediately after—
§ Mr. SpeakerI know. That is why I shall take it immediately after Question Time.