XN000022-1978-04-26 — Page 56

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time has come for all international development institutions to have clearly

defined roles to avoid overlapping of activities and so as to ensure the

activities of all institutions are complementary one to the other and not

competitive.

"The some-what haphazard emergence of these institutions since

the Second World War has meant that a not insignificant proportion of

available funds, expertise and experience is not being utilised to the

best advantage. Moreover, access to the limited resources of these

institutions appears to be determined on an accidental rather than a

fair and rational basis. Specifically, I would like to suggest that an

examination should be made of the possibility of the World Bank and the

several regional banks, as appropriate, accepting responsibility for

administering some of the development funds presently controlled by specialised

agencies. It would seem to be self evident that the totality of the overhead

costs of all development institutions is now such that substantial resources

could be released for productive investment purposes if there was a degree

of rationalisation of prosent arrangements. I think it would be helpful,

therefore, if the newly established International Commission on Development

looked into the present network of development and allied institutions

and examined their respective roles critically.

Protectionism

"My final point concerns the lurch to protectionism which has

become so alarmingly apparent in the last twelve months or so.

will undoubtedly slow down the growth rate of world trade in manufactures,

and generally. It will thus be a self-defeating process in the long run.

/Certainly