§ 11. Mr. Oramasked the Secretary for Technical Co-operation what is his estimate of the number of technical experts placed in developing countries by his Department since its foundation; how many were specially trained under his Department's auspices; and to what extent these persons were provided or trained in response to direct requests from the recipient countries.
§ Mr. R. CarrAbout 2,500. Most of these were fully qualified on appointment, but 136 received special training. All these appointments were at the request of the receiving countries.
§ Mr. OramIs the Minister satisfied that the figures that he has given are sufficient to offset—and, one would hope, more than offset—the number of experts who have been withdrawn as a result of 9 the run-down in the Colonial Service? On the last point, is not there a need not just to sit back and accept requests from overseas countries but to go out and stimulate ideas as to how experts might usefully be used in those territories?
§ Mr. CarrI think that the figures show that this is happening. The number appointed in 1962 was three times as great as the number appointed in 1961, and the figure for 1963 was more than 25 per cent. up again. We certainly hope that the 1964 figure will also show an increase. The numbers of vacancies and the numbers of appointments are increasing, and we are stimulating quite a number of requests.