§ Sir R. Russellasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which countries of the Far East and Pacific will receive technical assistance from the United Kingdom under the Supply Estimates, Class II, Vote 5, Subhead C(9), in 1971–72; and what is the value of the assistance to each.
§ Mr. WoodExpenditure from technical assistance funds is not precisely allocated in advance. The final total of expenditure will not be known until later in the year but, on the figures available at 31st March, expenditure from the equivalent item for 1970–71 was as follows:
£ British Solomon Islands Protectorate 64,118 Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony 12,143 Hong Kong 27,550 New Hebrides 13,158 Fiji 108,101 Tonga 44,840 Western Samoa 3,467 University of South Pacific 3,840 277,217 I would expect expenditure under this item for the present financial year to follow a similar pattern, even though the Estimates provision has been increased.
§ Sir R. Russellasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which countries of Latin America will receive technical assistance from the United Kingdom under the Supply Estimates, Class II, Vote 5, Subhead C(6), in 1971–72; and what is the estimated value of the assistance to each.
§ Mr. WoodThe allocation of £2 million provided under the Subhead is available generally to Latin American countries with which the United Kingdom has 387W a continuing technical assistance programme. These are Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela. The Central American countries of Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama also share in this. £15,000 for aid to regional organisations is included in the overall provision. I am expecting not only that the £2 million will be fully disbursed, but that a further £500,000 will probably be required. Supplementary provision for this will be sought in due course.
Technical assistance expenditure is not precisely allocated in advance. Disbursements this year are expected to follow broadly the same pattern as last year when they were as follows: Argentina £58,000; Bolivia £106,000; Brazil £188,000; Chile £214,000, Colombia £167,000; Ecuador £65,000; Mexico £77,000; Paraguay £1,000; Peru £77,000; Uruguay £13,000; Venezuela £27,000. In Central America: Costa Rica £52,000; Dominican Republic £17,000; El Salvador £48,000; Honduras £74,000; Nicaragua £5,000; Panama £50,000 (provisional figures).