The Press THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 1960. The Colombo Plan’s First Decade

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29102, 14 January 1960, Page 8

The Press THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 1960. The Colombo Plan’s First Decade

Ten years ago the Colombo conference of Commonwealth Foreign Ministers launched a vast experiment in international co-operation to benefit South and South-east Asia. On January 14, 1950, the conference endorsed a scheme proposed by Sir Percy Spender, of Australia, for raising the living standards of Asian peoples and for promoting harmony among races of all creeds and colours. In September, 1950, at a London meeting, the scheme was formally established as the Colombo Plan. At the beginning of a second decade of humanitarian service, the organisers of this great, imaginative project can look back proudly upon a remarkable record of achievement. They may look forward confidently, also, to even more impressive advances as the cumulative fruits of economic and social development become gradually apparent. The plan is firmly based upon the co-operative efforts of its 21 partners, including the United States and Britain. Measured by Asian peasant standards, small gifts usually seem very large. But Asian needs are enormous; and Colombo Plan beneficiaries have already received aid estimated at 6000 million dollars. The results cannot be determined accurately, because to the material progress made possible by the more fortunate countries’ assistance must be added the intangible but equally vital gains in Asian goodwill. More than a quarter of the world’s population lives in South and South-east Asia on only a sixteenth of the world’s land mass. The magnitude of the task begun in Colombo 10

years ago cannot be ignored. Nevertheless, a good beginning has been made; and the Colombo Plan participants may congratulate themselves upon their courage. To falter in this task could be disastrous. If the task is diligently performed, it holds the best possible promise of securing permanent peace throughout South and Southeast Asia. The Colombo Plan has been brought to New Zealanders’ notice particularly by the Asian students at the Dominion’s universities. Contacts with members of civilisations older than the European are always salutary; and New Zealand’s hospitality has been well repaid. Including commitments up to March 31 this year, £9,315,000 has been contributed by the Dominion for capital and technical assistance to Colombo Plan countries. By June, 1959, New Zealand had allocated more than £6 million to specific projects, including a bridge in Burma, irrigation works in Ceylon, a medical institute and the dairy industry in India, a vocational centre in Indonesia, an agricultural college in Malaya, a sugar mill in Pakistan, and trade training centres in the Philippines. Six hundred and sixty-four Colombo Plan students had visited the Dominion; and New Zealand had sent 108 experts in various fields to Colombo Plan countries. All this has been a substantial investment for a small country with many pressing needs of its own. But it has been an investment in perhaps the most precious commodities of a nuclear-menaced world —human welfare, friendship, and peace. It should not be grudged.