Govt overseas aid $55sm

Press, 3 July 1979, Page 25

Govt overseas aid $55sm

PA Wellington The Government has allocated $55 million for assistance to developing countries in 1979-80. Announcing this the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Mr Taiboys) said the allocation was the same as last year’s. The aid programme will continue to give priority to development assistance in the Pacific and South-East Asia.

“In the present economic climate firm constraints have to be maintained on public spending in all areas, and the aid programme cannot be exempted,” Mr Taiboys said.

The Government was conscious of the need to meet commitments and maintain development momentum in the Pacific and A.S.E.A.N. regions, and this would be reflected in the 1979-80 aid programme, he said.

Assistance to the Pacific would amount to $29.765M — almost SI.SM more than the 1978-79 expenditure and 69 per cent of the total bilateral Government-to-Gov. ernment aid. The allocation in bilateral and regional assistance to the five members of A.S.E.A.N. is just on SIOM. To the extent possible, the Government will also try to keep up the level of assistance to multilateral organisations such as United Nations and Commonwealth Development agencies and regional institutions in the South Pacific. (The allocation for multilateral aid in 197980 is $8.208M, compared with $8.985M last year).

Multilateral disbursements would follow a similar pattern to last year with only one new significant item — a provision of $400,000 to sup-

port the development of the Pacific Forum Line. “A key feature of the aid programme has always been the provision for training and study in New Zealand or in Third World countries, and this year a new approach is being introduced in the way we offer training and study opportunities,” Mr Talboys said.

Until now the programme had offered a specific number of awards.

This year, however, the funds available for training and study purposes would be incorporated in the individual country allocations in respect of the Pacific and A.S.E.A.N. regions, which account for most of the training and study expenditure. This would give New Zealand’s main aid partner Governments more flexibility, at

a time when costs of training were rising rapidly, to decide their own priorities for training and other forms of aid, Mr Taiboys said. Countries outside these two regions would continue to be offered specific training help. Over all it was estimated that almost S4M would be spent on training. In recognition of the valuable contribution which New Zealand voluntary agencies made to the total flow of resources from New Zealand to the developing world, the Government has decided to increase the allocation for voluntary agencv support by $35,000 to $365,000, Mr Taiboys said.

“This amount will cover both direct grants and the subsidies under the voluntary agency support scheme,” he i said. I