ECONOMIC AID

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27346, 23 March 1950, Page 7

ECONOMIC AID

South-east Asia Area

Early Appearance Hinted NZPA—Reuter—Copyright

Rec. 11 p.m. SINGAPORE, Mar. 22. Aid for South-east Asia might start to be felt in “certain areas” within 90 days, Mr Robert Allen Griffin, head of the American Technical Assistance Survey Mission, said today at the end of his Malayan visit. He added that aid and supplies would be economic and not military, but he imagined he could include bulldozers and armoured cars in the category of economic supplies. He suggested that bulldozers might be used to clear tracts of land while the armoured cars could be used for carrying payrolls. Most urgently in need of aid, Mr Griffin considered, was Indo-China, especially in medical supplies and agricultural tools. He said Malaya needed “peace.” Compared with other parts of Asia, Malaya was “a paradise.” Mr Griffin said he had had discussions with the British Commissionergeneral, Mr Malcolm MacDonald, and others in’ an effort to discover what American aid could be best utilised in Malaya. “If the use of certain equipment or supplies that are beneficial to the economy can be employed also in the anti-Communist bandit campaign, then we consider that they will be worthwhile projects.” He added that the United States was keen to co-operate fully with British Commonwealth plans.

Mr Griffin and his party will leave for Rangoon tomorrow. They will then visit Bangkok and Jacarta before returning to Washington at the beginning of May.