NEED FOR TRAINED MEN

Table 24. —Preliminary Requirements of Overseas Experts for Programmes Malaya and Type of expert India Pakistan Ceylon British Borneo Agriculture 37 38 9 11 Fisheries 6 12 1 1 Miscellaneous industrial experts ... 8 12 8 4 Engineers— Civil 25 69 22 10 Mechanical 339 58 2 3 Electrical 36 51 .. 1 Chemical 11 39 3 Other* 41 .. 20 U Industrial chemists 1 27 3 Statisticians, &c 2 8 .. 1 Research chemists 18 42 Medical 49 25 2 5 Education 13 30 1 8 Civil engineering superintendents and foremen .. 12 22 Miscellaneous 52 37 82 4 Total ... 638 460 154 59 * Includes civil, mechanical, electrical and chemical engineers, where these form part of a group which cannot be sub-divided. Where the exact number wanted is unknown, the requirement has been shown as 1. The length of time for which a particular man is needed varies from a few months to three or more years, and one man may be able to satisfy a number of needs in one or more countries. It might not, however, be unreasonable to estimate that at any one time during the period of the execution of the programmes, these countries together will be calling for the assistance of between 500 and 750 highly qualified experts from abroad. Trained men of all types are also likely to be required in substantial numbers by the nonCommonwealth countries of the area, as is clear from the surveys undertaken by the Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East. 12. The most direct and effective way of meeting such needs is for the countries themselves to seek out the technical assistance they need. In this way they are already meeting an important part of their requirements by employing consulting engineers, overseas contractors, and companies expert in the particular type of enterprise which it is desired to develop. Private enterprise has in the past played, and will continue to play, an important part in meeting the technical assistance needs of under-developed countries, both by supplying their own experts and by creating training facilities. The difficulties referred to earlier in recruiting experts for service in South and South-East Asia probably apply with less force to recruitment by private enterprise. It is not possible to state in numerical terms what this contribution of private enterprise amounts to at present, since the arrangements are usually made privately, between a company in, for example, the United Kingdom and one in India. Alternatively, the arrangement may be between an overseas company and the Government of a country in the area. In this way the countries receive a flow of technical knowledge and facilities for training their own people, whether at home or overseas, which could not otherwise be readily made available to them. In the past much of this assistance has been undertaken wholly by private enterprise, but in a number of instances in recent years private enterprise has been associated with Governments in the establishment of new industries and the recruitment and training of the necessary personnel An association of this kind is responsible

51