HC Deb 30 July 1964 vol 699 cc1772-3
16. Mr. Wall

asked the Secretary for Technical Co-operation what action is to be taken by his Department to further the Commonwealth Prime Ministers' declaration that development projects should be launched in individual Commonwealth countries.

Mr. R. Carr

Consultations in which my Department is playing a full part, have already begun between officials of Commonwealth Governments on implementing this proposal.

Mr. Wall

Can my right hon. Friend say what method of consultation is used and give some idea of the number of projects likely to be discussed by the end of the year?

Mr. Carr

The form of consultation at the moment is that there is the Commonwealth Liaison Committee here in London. As my hon. Friend will appreciate, certain outline suggestions were put to the Commonwealth Prime Ministers by our Prime Minister, and the Commonwealth Governments are now considering these and they may wish to put forward suggestions of their own. We will get on with this as quickly as we can, and nothing would give me greater pleasure than to be able to make an announcement at the end of the year.

Mr. Foley

Are these development projects envisaged on a bilateral basis, or is the concept one of trying to develop Commonwealth action and Commonwealth teams to meet the specific needs of each country?

Mr. Carr

The difficult answer is that it is a mixture of both. We believe that one country could take the lead in management, but we also hope that personnel and financial contributions will be on a multi-country basis; in other words, a genuine Commonwealth basis.