§ Mr. WallaceTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what was the total amount of bilateral aid given by the United Kingdom to Albania in each of the last three years; and if he will list the main projects to have benefited from this aid.
§ Mr. BaldryTotal United Kingdom bilateral aid to Albania for the last three financial years was:
£ 1991–92 615,000 1992–93 417,000 1993–94 1921,000 1Provisional figure A large proportion of this was emergency aid, mostly food and medicines: £615,000 in 1991–92; £371,000 in 1992–93; and £501,000 in 1993–94. The remainder, £46,000 in 1992–93 and £420,000 in 1993–94, consists of funds disbursed under the know-how fund, Britain's programme of technical assistance for the countries of central and eastern Europe. The KHF was extended to 718W Albania in June 1992. The main projects completed or under way are:
a one year placement for a British agricultural consultant to assist the National Agency for State Farms with the process of privatisation (completed);a two year project to assist the development of private farmers associations (ongoing);funding of volunteers from East European Partnership (EEP) to work on a major EU PHARE business advice and training project for regional business centres (ongoing);a two year training programme for local government finance officers to help implement new local government legislation (ongoing);placement of a haematologist to assist the Director of the Tirana Blood Bank with the transition to a voluntary system of blood donation (ongoing);a grant for EEP volunteers to provide training and consultancy advice at the home for Mentally Handicapped Children in Berat (ongoing);a project to improve the quality and supply of water by Korca water company. The project will also produce a manual of good practice to be used elsewhere in Albania (ongoing);a project to train Albanian geoscientists in coastal zone management and to help establish a Coastal Geology Unit in Albania (ongoing);a programme of consultancy and training for the Albanian prison service, provided by Her Majesty's Prison Service (ongoing);a series of visits to and from Albania by members of the Devon Fire Service and Albanian fire officers, culminating in a training course for 14 Albanians in Devon in November 1994 (ongoing);a publishing seminar organised by International Book Development (IBD) Training as part of a larger World Bank programme designed to develop an approach to textbook provision appropriate to Albania (completed).
§ Mr. WallaceTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will give details of multilateral aid packages given to Albania in which the United Kingdom or the European Union has contributed.
§ Mr. BaldrySeveral multilateral agencies to which Britain makes a regular contribution are active in Albania.
The EU's PHARE programme was extended to Albania in 1992. In 1992 and 1993 a total of 53 mecu—£42 million—was disbursed on a number of projects in agriculture, private sector development, health, transport, environment, public administration and higher education. Britain contributes approximately 16 per cent. of the total PHARE budget, which, in 1994, represents about £7 million for Albania.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, in which the British Government have an 8.5 per cent. shareholding, has approved loans totalling 34 mecu—£26.5 million—for investment projects in Albania. It has also committed 4.7 mecu—£3.6 million—to technical co-operation projects in telecommunications, finance, energy, the environment and tourism.
Since it began lending to Albania, the International Development Association has approved a total of US$138 million in development credits, of which $87 million remained undisbursed on 30 June 1994. During the IDA 1993–94 financial year, it approved credits for housing, labour market development, social safety net development, water rehabilitation and school rehabilitation. The UK contributed 6.15 per cent. to the latest IDA replenishment—IDA–10—in July 1993.
Three UN agencies, UNICEF, the UNDP and WHO, are active in Albania. UNICEF, which received $8.5 million from Britain this financial year, has a $6 million 719W programme for Albania covering the years 1993–95. WHO has a $50,000 programme in albania for 1994–95 and the UNDP a $6 million budget for the same period. The UK contributes approximately 5 per cent. of the annual global budget of both agencies.