THE COLOMBO PLAN

10. In all the countries the programmes represent a considerable acceleration in the present rate of development. With the assistance of substantial economic support from overseas and by drawing down their sterling balances, the countries have been able to do a great deal, although in some cases much of the work has been more in the nature of reconstruction than new development. Organisations are therefore in being to carry out development, and a large number of projects are already under way. A total of 94 identifiable projects of £1,000,000 or more, costing in all £569 million, are included in the programmes, and significant expenditure will have taken place on 71 of these by June, 1951. These development programmes are not a leap in the dark ; in great part they involve a speeding up and broadening of work which is already in progress. 11. As far as future development is concerned, the experience already gained is of particular importance. Procedures which have been evolved over the years exist in all the countries for the stringent control of public expenditure. More recently, the problem has been to establish machinery for the co-ordination of large-scale development planning. There are many difficulties in the way of building a sufficiently strong organisation of this nature, but the Governments are fully seized of its importance. Moreover they recognise that the administration of development programmes cannot follow a rigid pattern ; rather it must be kept under constant review as the development work gathers momentum. 12. The distribution and the cost of the programmes is described in the following table: Table 19. —Analysis of Development Programmes Malaya and India Pakistan Ceylon British Borneo Total £m. £m. £m. £m. £m. Percentage 456 88 38 13 595 32 Transport and communications 527 57 22 21 627 34 Fuel and power 43 51 8 20 122 6 Industry and mining(6) ... 135 53 6 194 10 Social capital 218 31 28 53 330 18 1,379 280 102 107 1,868 100 (a) Including multi-purpose projects. (b) Excluding coal. 13. In all the countries (except Singapore, where the problems are entirely different) the programmes concentrate upon agriculture, transport and communications, and electric power. These are the basic development requirements, related to the overriding need to increase production of food and agricultural raw materials. They account for over 70 per cent, of the total of the programmes. They include bringing new land into cultivation in all countries. For example, the Ceylon programme envisages an increase of some 20 per cent, in the land under food production, without interfering with the production of export crops. In India, Pakistan and Ceylon, the basic development will be achieved by big multi-purpose projects which combine irrigation, flood control and the production of hydro-electric power. In India and Pakistan much of the newly irrigated land will be cultivated by modern techniques. This work will demonstrate throughout the area the possibilities and advantages of new systems of agriculture. The productivity of the land already under cultivation is also to be increased by greater use of fertiliser, double cropping, seed-farms, improved transport and provision of electric power.

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