Announcement that the Report on the Mission to Ceylon Has Been Made Public on September 2, 1952

BOLD ,FOR BEL'B'ASE ROLD FOB m!LEASE IMEBNATIONAL BANK FOR • FOR THE PR8SS PRESS mll'ASE NO. 304 ~OWl'RCJC'l'ION Alm DEVELOPMENr Washington, D.C. · FOR BELEASE Tuesday, September 2, 1952 Reoomnendations for the economic development of Ceylon were published today in the report of a mission to Ceylon organized by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development at the request of the Government of Ceylc;,n. The report was released simultaneously by the Ceylonese Govermnent in Colombo and by the International Bank in Washington. · The •hief of the mission was Sir Sydney Caine, Vice Chancellor Designate of the University of Malaya and fon&er head of the British Treasury and Supply Delega- tion in the United States. Twelve persons composed the mission, repreeentins eight nationalities. The FAO nominated the mieaion•s agricultural technician and shared • the cost of his servicee; WHO nominated the public h,3e.lth specialist. The mission went to Ceylon in September 1951 and stayed ten weeks to study ·the economic potentialities of the eo1,mtry and to make recommendations for a development prosrem. In 1ta report, the mission states that Ceylon• s resoui~ea in land, materials and money, although limited, are su:f'f'icient, if wisely managed, to meet the needs of the srowins popu~.ation, to improve the standard of livins and to sdd permanent strength to the economy. To this &nd the, mission recommends a S;lx-Year :Program of Development to begin 1n October 1953, following completion of Ceylon's present six-year p~grem.· The rep1:,rt points out that for SOUlEt sene:t:-ations past Ceylon• s productivity has ma1nta1ned a lead in tlle race with population. Today, the odds 1n the race are eh1:ftins. Ceylon now has one of the hisheet rates of population increase 1n the world - 2.4% a year. If the tempo of progress ts to be ~intained., Ceylon • is faced with the iDIDediate taek of expand1ns and diversifying the utilization of  -2- • her productive resources. The program recamnended by the mission gives priority to the increase of agri.cultural production. Two methods for achieving this are stressed. The first is the improvement of existing agr:tcultura1 techniques.. The mission recommends t~t Ceylon should exert every effort to improve yields ot rice and other tood crops through education, reeee.rch, publicity, dem0nstrat1on and assistance to growers. Activities requiring special attention include methods of cultivation, tre.nspl.antins of rice, use of fertilizer and more econ~cal use of irrigation water. The second method is the opening of new ]4nds through irrigation, juns].e clearance and colonization. Of Ceylon's total area ot about 16,250,000 acres, there is en uncultivated area of potential development nearly as great as the • 3,500,000 acres now under cultivation. However, because most of the unused lands are in the dry zone or in inaccessible or less fertile parts of the wet zone, those lands can produc.'9 roughly only half as m.uoh as the area now sroWins crops f'o~ domestic consumption. The mission warns that in opening up new lands great· care should be taken not to damage the soil - an asset which could not be replaced. Apart from direct investments in agriculture., the mission points out that the substantial investments it proposes. for transport improvement and for power and industry, will also help to secure a hisber output fran the land. Althoush the mission believes that for sea, years to cane industry will be a secondary contributor to ~e national income, in the more distant future the .further growth of national incane and 11v1ns standards will depend upon •ch 1:ncreased emplo;vment 1n 1nduetry. The next six-year period must build the. found.a• tions for that develOIQent by research and education, and by :ro,tering a Vflriety of • ne»W ind'1str1es not individually 1nvolv:tl'l8 too heavy 1nvestaient resources. of capital and • The mission found that ultimate possibilities ot hydroel.eotric power are smaUer than is often supposed,· but it urps that electric power proJects should go forward as rapidly as possible without prohibitive expense. The report stresses the importance of improvements 1n public health end education which., quite apart fran their di"ct contribution to welfare, are necessary to secure a fitter and more canpetent working population. For the present, emphasis should be g1ven more to preventive than to curative health measures. The mission was impressed by the need tor mu.ch further survey and investigation work 1n many fields, in particular water and 1rript1on, power, land use., soils and forests. The mission urses that until these studies are completed, new large- scale schemes be put aside in favor of a sreater number of smaller projects. The basic program outlined in the x,,port calls for a capital expenditure over the six-year period 1953•1959 of Rs. 1,600 million (equivalent to U.S. $337.5 • million) • This level of expend!ture is, the mission believes, W1thin Ceylon's reach, g1ven proper utilization of internal resources both public 8Jld private, and prudent use of external assets and bor.row:lns powei-. Also, the government has the administrative and technical staff to manage a program of this size econanically and efficiently. The mission has outlined a supplementary prosrem costing Rs. 400 million, to be undertaken if additional funds should be available. The m.1ss1on recommends the establishment of three new development apncies: 1. An Ficonanic Committee of the Cabinet to be aided by 8Jl economic plannins secretariat. This Cc;mnitte,, woUld have the task of pullinS together the plannins of developnent as a whole, supervis1t3,l the· necessary general surveys, and coordinatins requ~at$ for external tech..'"lical advice •.. 2. An Institute of Applied Research. Thi", throush technical research and enqu:lry, would provide k:nowledse about the real potentialities of local materials • and about the adap~tion of modern .techniques to l~al .c1rcuinstances.  ·11 /\ - 4- • 3. A Ceylon Development Corporation, an autonomous financing agency, with capital participation by government, commercial banks end private individuals. The Corporation would provide the firumce necessary to initiate new projects in industry, agriculture, or miscellaneous business and to assist the progress of :prom:teins ventures already started by individual enterprise; and would furnish or arrange for :managerial and technical assistance to new ventures or to bthers in need of it. The mission stresses that Ceylon• s development cann<.lt be accanplished by sover.nment action alone. "Every resource of private initiative and energy, both Ceylonese and foreign, is needed if the country 1& to mob1l.1ze its latent resources, to discover new lines ot production and to inorease its total output faster then its population. A real effort is needed to create an atmosphere conducive to • genuine and fruitful :partnership between ~ermnent and private initiative in all its forms." Members of the mission were: Sir Sydney Caine, K.C.M.G. Chief of Mission Leopold Baranyai Adviser on Finance Eric l3eecrott Assistant to Mission Chief Francantonio Biagsi Adviser on Power Jean R. de Farsues Adviser on·Irr1.sat10!l and Water Resources Palll T. Ellswo~ Chief' F,conomist Villi$ M. Gilmartin EconQDist Francis W. Godwin Adviser on Industry and M1nenl Resources Arie Xru1thot J9hn D~. Luttmen-Johnson Adv1,er on Transportation and Camnunicatione • Amolak R. Mehta John F. V. Phillips ~: Advise:r on,,A8",c~ture Elizabeth P. DaUas Myrtle c. T:f:mm~ns • September 2, 1952 The report of the Ceylon mission, made public today, is the first section of the fUl.1 report which will be available in the late fall. The first section, or Part I. of the report is a pape~bound booklet of 131 pages. Pending publi- cation of the fu.11 report, a limited number of copies of Part I are available at The Johns Hopkins Press. :Baltimore 18, Maeyland, for $1.00 each. Part I of the report reviews the basic problems of Ceylon's economy and sets out the main lines which economic develo'Qllent may be expected to follow, together with the nroblems involved. It puts for,~ard definite conclusions both as to the size of Ceylon's public investme~t program for the six years 1953-59 and specific allocations in the variOQ.s fields. It indicates, with brief explanations, the chief recommendations of the mission on innovations in organization, changes in • government policies and particular develo:r:ment projects. Part I, together with Part II._ will be published in a single bound volume of more than 700 .Pages and, when available, may be obtained from The Johns Hopci~a Press tor $7.50. Part II contains basic information on the economy of Ceylon, and discusses in detail the problems arising in the major fields of economic activity. In addition to eetting forth the reasoning behind the maJor recommendations outlined in Part I, it con\a.ins many more recomme11datione and suggestions for action. Part II contains twelve chapters, with 20 charts and graphs and 20 ma.pa, on the following subjects: forieig;i trade and commercial policy, monetaey and financial matters, cooperatives end rural develo]:ment, agriculture, colonization, water sources and irrigation, power, industry, transportation, public health, education and technology,