§ Mr. HunterTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment is available to him on the level of economic growth in Zimbabwe in each year since 1983.
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§ Mr. MellorThe rate of economic growth in Zimbabwe as measured by the estimated growth in the gross domestic product is as follows for each year since 1983:
Year Per cent. 1983 -4.2 1984 2.6 1985 9.3 1986 2.3 1987 0.3 SourceIMF staff papers.
§ Mr. HunterTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is his assessment of the extent to which Zimbabwe has benefited from joining the Lome convention and improved access to European Community markets.
§ Mr. MellorOver the five years to 1990 Zimbabwe will get 73 million ecu (about £50 million) in planned aid from the European development fund, in addition to benefiting from SADCC and other regional projects. Zimbabwe also receives loans from the European Investment Bank and emergency aid, and is eligible for finance under the stabex scheme.
Under the Lomé convention, Zimbabwe's exports of its industrial products and the great majority of its agricultural products enter the Community free of tariff and other restrictions.
§ Mr. HunterTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list current development projects in Zimbabwe for which United Kingdom national, Commonwealth or European Community assistance is given and the value of that assistance.
§ Mr. MellorUnder the bilateral aid programme to Zimbabwe, Britain is currently financing the following projects at a total cost of £28.598 million:
Project £ million Land Resettlement Grant 1981 20.000 Project Loan 1982 Water Bowsers 0.475 Veterinary Faculty Equipment 0.740 Land Rover Rehabilitation 0.707 Cold Storage Commission Equipment 0.757 Kwekwe Roasting Plant 0.317 Migrant Pest Control 0.050 Tractor Rehabilitation Grant 1986 1.200 Rural Development Grant 1986 Lister Diesels Assembly 1.897 Lister Diesels Rehabilitation 0.385 Dairy Marketing Board 0.490 Nyanyadzi Irrigation 0.280 Cotton Marketing Board 1.300 28.598 In addition, we expect to spend about £6 million in 1988–89 on technical co-operation activities.
The Commonwealth fund for technical co-operation is currently funding with grants estimated at £67,800 a number of projects in Zimbabwe involving the provision of experts.
Projects in Zimbabwe currently being financed by the European Community from the fifth and sixth European development funds are as follows:
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Total allocation £ million Grant funding Veterinary faculty, University of Zimbabwe 5.17 Fruit and vegetable development programme 0.43 Matabeleland South Rural Water Project 0.76 Aid to Grain Marketing Board 0.96 Microprojects programmes III 2.07 Technical assistance to Zimbabwe Development Bank 0.34 Regional tsetse and trypanosomiasis control 5.76 Regional railways training 1.38 Agriculture Finance Corporation 2.41 Expert development programme 3.03 Konyati and Gatske-Gatske communal lands 2.07 Reintegration of qualified nationals 0.52 Special loan funding Smallholder coffee, fruit, vegetable. irrigated food crop development 2.90 Tsetse and trypanosomiasis control 2.69 Matabeleland South Rural Water Project 2.07 Aid to Grain Marketing Board 3.88 Agricultural Finance Corporation 13.79 European Investment Bank risk capital Zimbabwe Development Bank 3.10 The United Kingdom share of this total of £53.33 million is about £9 million.
§ Mr. HunterTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list United Kingdom contributors to Zimbabwe through national, Commonwealth and European Community action in each year since 1983.
§ Mr. MellorUnited Kingdom bilateral aid expenditure and the estimated British share of Commonwealth and European Community aid expenditure to Zimbabwe since 1983 have been as follows:
(£000s) 1983 1984 1985 1986 United Kingdom bilateral aid 19,453 15,062 23,636 12,242 Estimated United Kingdom share of European Community aid 1,590 4,470 700 600 Estimated United Kingdom share of Commonwealth aid 79 89 107 78
§ Mr. HunterTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what other measures he has taken, or proposes to take, to assist the Zimbabwe Government to strengthen their national economy and to decrease their dependence on the economy of the Republic of South Africa.
§ Mr. MellorAll our bilateral aid to Zimbabwe aims to strengthen the national economy. In addition, we support the Southern African Development Co-ordination Conference, of which Zimbabwe is a member.