Colombo Plan: What is it? Canada's Involvement?

The Colombo Plan is a plan for cooperative economic and social development in Asia and the Pacific. The purposes (taken from colombo-plan.org) of this plan are:

(a) To promote interest in and support for the economic and social development of Asia and the Pacific;

(b) To promote technical co-operation and assist in the sharing and transfer of technology among member countries;

(c) To keep under review relevant information on technical co-operation between the member governments, multilateral and other agencies with a view to accelerating development through co-operative effort;

(d) To facilitate transfer and sharing of the developmental experiences among member countries within the region with emphasis on the concept of South-South Co-operation;

(e) To assist the Least Developed Countries (LDC's) of the Colombo Plan region in their effort of economic development through dissemination of technical and industrial know-how by comparatively advanced countries.

Canada's Involvement: Initial Canadian involvement was cautious, with a 1951-52 contribution of only $25 million. But today, Canada is no longer a member of the Colombo Plan.