§ 7. Mr. Brooksasked the Minister of Overseas Development whether he will take the initiative in proposing to the United Nations specialist agencies that comprehensive studies be undertaken of the economic potential of each of the great river systems within the developing world.
§ Mr. PrenticeStudies of this kind can, of course, be of great value but the U.N. Development Programme already includes 33 large projects involving studies of river basins and another 33 studies in the fields of water power, hydraulics and meteorology. I am sure that the U.N. Agencies will take any further initiatives which they think are required.
§ Mr. BrooksWhile accepting that valuable work is being done, a notable example is the Mekong Valley in Southern Asia—would my right hon. Friend not agree that this sort of work is particularly important because it encourages collaboration between the riparian States and that, without this, there is a danger of fragmentation of aid programmes?
§ Mr. PrenticeYes, Sir, but for the very reason which my hon. Friend mentions—because there are sometimes different national States in the region of major rivers and because of relations between those States—it is not possible to launch effective development. It is a question of timing the initiatives, and this has been done with notable success, for example, on the Indus and the Mekong, which my hon. Friend mentioned. I will certainly watch for further opportunities of this kind.