§ 10. Mr. Biffenasked the Minister of Overseas Development what steps he is taking to implement the Estimates Committee's recommendation that overseas official aid should be increasingly concentrated on those countries which offer the greatest potential markets.
§ Mr. PrenticeI accepted the recommenclation of the Estimates Committee and intend to take account of it in future aid programmes. At present opportunities are limited by the constraints of a programme fixed at a constant level.
§ Mr. BiffenIs not the right hon. Gentleman aware that free enterprise and free movement of capital are by far the best and most suitable mechanism in identifying market opportunities, and would not the most constructive conclusion to be drawn from the Estimates Committee's Report be that the activities of his Department should diminish and those of free enterprise increase?
§ Mr. PrenticeNo. In fact, the Estimates Committee came to exactly the opposite conclusion, and what is needed in developing countries is both Government aid to provide the sort of things which private enterprise will not provide—roads and schools and that sort of development—plus private investment to help the formation of productive capacity. What those countries need is both, not one or the other.