More Aid to Under-Developed Areas

f I 'HE meeting of the Colombo plan prime ministers in Ottawa I and the recent conference on aid to under-developed •*■ countries organized by the United Nations Association in Canada have focussed attention on the problems of underdeveloped areas. The Canadian government announced after the Colombo plan meeting that it was increasing its contribution to the Colombo plan by another one million dollars. Many Canadians believe that our present contribution is pitifully inadequate; others may feel that it is already too large. Which of these two views is correct? The answer to this question can only be reached in the light of a careful analysis of the problems faced by these areas and the issues that are at stake. It was with this in mind that a study group of the Winnipeg Men's Branch of the C.I.I.A. recently gave their attention to this problem. This paper sums up the group's views on this important issue.1 An under-developed country may be defined as one where the present income level is low by western standards, but where the rise in income that could be brought about by applying better techniques and by increasing the supply of capital is comparatively large. Thus, by these standards, India or Peru would be considered under-developed countries for there is general agreement that the natural advantages of these countries are such that large gains in output are possible. But areas like the Sahara or Greenland, though their income level may be low, can scarcely be considered under-developed in the same sense since even with the application of the best known techniques no important gains in income could be achieved. Or again Canada might be considered undeveloped because there are still large potentialities for development here but she would not qualify under the above definition as an under-developed country because her income level is already very high

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