HC Deb 30 June 1988 vol 136 c297W
Mr. Pawsey

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will set out the Government's principal achievements in overseas aid to Third world countries since 1983.

Mr. Chris Patten

Since 1983 the principal achievements of the aid programme include:

  1. 1. a swift and generous response (totalling £253 million between 1983 and 1987) to appeals for emergency and refugee relief;
  2. 2. the successful completion of many aid projects, large and small, including the Victoria Dam in Sri Lanka (£113 million) and the Songea-Makambako Road in Tanzania (£90 million);
  3. 3. 200 new project allocations, each worth £2 million or more, with a total value of £1,662 million;
  4. 4. helping to sustain economic policy reforms, particularly in Africa, through the provision of programme aid (£261 million between 1983 and 1987) in support of IMF/IBRD agreed adjustment programmes;
  5. 5. the provision (between 1983 and 1986) of 23,502 person-years of training of overseas personnel and of 14,137 person-years of service by British experts and volunteers in developing countries;
  6. 6. in the period to 1987, securing contracts for British firms with a total export value of £1,082 million with aid and trade provision support; and
  7. 7. between 1985–86 and 1987–88, the cofunding, under the joint funding scheme of about 1,300 projects with over 50 agencies at a cost of £18.2 million. The budget of the JFS, which is one of the fastest growing areas of the aid programme, now stands at £10.5 million for 1988–89, a 75 per cent. increase on the original allocation for last year.

At the November 1986 European Community Development Council, under Britain's presidency, agreement was reached on much needed reforms of European Community food aid. These reforms are now being implemented.

In line with my right hon. Friend the Chancellor's initiative on debt, the United Kingdom has cancelled £263 million of aid loans to 14 African countries; and 10 countries have negotiated better rescheduling terms. Agreement was reached at the recent Toronto summit on further debt relief based on this initiative.