HC Deb 02 March 1999 vol 326 cc682-3W
Dr. Marek

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what training support her Department has given to Tuvalu in each of the last five years; and what plans she has to increase the amount. [73970]

Clare Short

Our bilateral development assistance to the Pacific is provided from a single regional programme (total spending will be around £3.75 million in the current financial year). In the particular case of Tuvalu, the view was taken following Independence in 1978 that we could best assist that country's development through the establishment of a Trust Fund to help meet both recurrent and capital expenditure. The Fund was established in 1987 with contributions of £3.2 million each from Britain, Australia and New Zealand. With prudent management, the Fund has since grown substantially in real terms, while providing a reliable source of funds for the Government of Tuvalu.

Tuvalu is also eligible for awards from a Pacific-wide allocation of the Department for International Development (DFID) and The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) funding for Chevening Scholarships. Three such awards

Dates Location Minister US counterpart
1–3 July 1998 Washington Mr. Fatchett Karl Inderfurth, Assistant Secretary for South asian Affairs
Johnny Carson, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for African Affairs
Dennis Ross, Special Middle East Coordinator
13 July 1998 Washington Baroness Symons Ambassador Wendy Sherman, Under-Secretary for Global Affairs
Peter Romero, Assistant Secretary for Inter-American Affairs
John Hamilton. Deputy Assistant Secretary for Central America, Caribbean and Cuba
22–25 February 1999 Washington Mr. Fatchett Stanley Roth, Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs
Karl Inderfurth, Assistant Secretary for South Asian Affairs
Martin Sheehan, Counter Terrorism Coordinator
Tom Pickering, Under Secretary for Political Affairs
David Welch, Assistant Secretary for International Organisations
Martin Indyk, Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs
Dennis Ross, Special Middle East Coordinator

The Secretary of State last visited Washington in January 1998. He has had numerous meetings, sometimes several times a month, with Madeleine Albright outside the United States, most recently in Rambouillet. He will next visit Washington in April 1999, for the NATO Summit.Unfortunately, the information the hon. Member requires on meetings which have taken place in the UK and third countries is not held centrally, and to obtain it would incur disproportionate costs.

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