HL Deb 03 December 1980 vol 415 c510WA
Lord Brockway

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What response they have made to the request of Dr. Queth Masire, President of Botswana, for aid to the states bordering on the Republic of South Africa to enable them to become increasingly independent of the republic economically.

Lord Carrington

My honourable friend the Minister for Overseas Development attended the Southern African Development Co-ordination Conference held on 27th and 28th November in Maputo, and which was chaired by Botswana. We supported the conference's aim of identifying practical means of increasing regional co-operation for the economic benefit of the region as a whole. Our aid to the region is already substantial (£110 million in 1979), and we indicated that we could consider requests for further assistance, particularly in the transport and agricultural sectors, where this was possible within the resources available for bilateral programmes.