§ 9. Mr. Hollandasked the Secretary for Technical Co-operation whether he is sponsoring economic studies of the development needs of overseas countries; and whether he is able to recruit sufficient economists for overseas service to meet the requests received from developing countries.
§ Mr. R. CarrMy Department has now arranged to finance the appointment of three economists each at Oxford and Cambridge, who will be available for overseas assignments and, while at home, will engage in research on the economic problems of developing countries. My 1767 Department also provides research grants for overseas institutes engaged in such studies. Economists are in great demand, and very difficult to recruit for service overseas.
§ Mr. HollandI welcome the new appointments at Oxford and Cambridge, but would not my right hon. Friend agree that these still are insufficient to meet the very considerable demand, and would he consider expanding the scheme not only at Oxbridge but at the other universities as well?
§ Mr. CarrI am grateful for what my hon. Friend says. This is a new scheme and, I think, a hopeful one. We must get it going, and when we have had a little experience of it I will certainly consider whether we can extend it to the other universities.
§ Mr. FoleyCan the Secretary of State for Technical Co-operation say whether, in sponsoring economic studies, he also intends to enlarge this to some kind of training job for people from the various ministries of economic development in the developing countries?
§ Mr. CarrRather germane to the hon. Member's question was one of the proposals discussed at the recent Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference, which has been submitted by the Prime Ministers, for further study by officials. There was talk of a special institute; certainly, if such an institute were set up, training in this economic development and planning would feature very largely in its curriculum.