TOO EARLY TO ASSESS DEGREE OF PRODUCTION IN THE EAST INDIES

Wanganui Chronicle, 29 January 1948, Page 5

TOO EARLY TO ASSESS DEGREE OF PRODUCTION IN THE EAST INDIES

(N.Z. P. A. Special—Copyright) Reed. 6 p.m. London, Jan. 28. It is too early yet to assume that any general reconstruction is possible in the Dutch Indies, says a special correspondent of the “Financial Times,” reviewing conditions in the Netherlands East Indies. In the large areas of Java and the greater part of Sumatra there is neither personal nor legal security, and companies are reluctant to send their employees to these areas or to start production on any large scale. Wherever the Dutch have reoccupied their territories without undue fear of being disturbed, marked recovery has taken place, but wherever a threat of Republican interference exists there is little sign of progress. Economic conditions in the Indies also are largely affected by a shortage of rice. Before the war the Indies imported large quantities of rice from India, Siam and Indo-China, but now these imports have ceased and Indonesians are compelled to utilise large areas of their tea and other gardens to grow their own rice supplies. In general Government finances are in a bad state, and foreign indebtedness has risen to an unprecedented degree. Hopes are now concentrated on the possibility of American loans, but it is estimated that at least 500,000,000 dollars are required for the necessary reconstruction work in the whole of the Archipelago. Reviewing the position of the major East Indies production items, the correspondent says about 44 per cent, of Dutch-owned rubber estates and factories are now restored in Java, and about 45 per cent, in Sumatra. Rubber production in most areas has been reduced by about 34 per cent, and sugar production by 50 per cent. Oil production is only about 30 per cent, of the pre-war output, but the tin output is expected to show a large increase this year.