INTEREST IN SAMOA

Press, Volume C, Issue 29680, 25 November 1961, Page 17

INTEREST IN SAMOA

German Aid Considered

(N.Z. Press Assn.— Copy ng nt) APIA, Nov. 23. Mr G. C. Willig, general manager of William Breckwoldt and Company, Hamburg, arrived at Apia on Sunday. He said that one purpose of his visit is to find out whether the Government of Western Samoa expects aid from West Germany, and to what extent. "Samoa is small and very far away, but it is still viewed with affection by many people in Germany as a former German possession." said Mr Willig. He said that his employer, Mr William Breckwoldt is president of a Hamburg group of bankers and businessmen known as the Australia and New Zealand Association, and Mr Breckwoldt had been asked by the Bonn government about the situation in Samoa and the consequences of independence. On his return to Germany he would confer with the Foreign Office concerning possibilities of aid to Samoa and the extent and direction it might take, said Mr Willig. “It is obvious that Samoa needs an influx of foreign capital and investment, and to attract this capital, the country will have to follow a liberal economic policy, guaranteeing fair treatment and security. However, it is impossible to expect any definite answer to what future policy will be until the advent of independence."