Colombo Plan

The Colombo Plan Cooperative Economic and Social Development in Asia and the Pacific
The Colombo Plan member countries shown in blue
Headquarters		Colombo
Official languages		English
Type		Economic forum
Member countries		26
Leaders
-	Secretary-General	Mr. Adam Maniku
Establishment
-	Colombo Plan for Co-operative Economic Development in South and South-East Asia	28 Nov 1950
-	Plan operations commencement	1 Jul 1951
Website http://www.colombo-plan.org/

The Colombo Plan is a regional organization that embodies the concept of collective inter-governmental effort to strengthen economic and social development of member countries in the Asia-Pacific Region. The primary focus of all Colombo Plan activities is on human resources development.

History

The organization was born out of a Commonwealth Conference of Foreign Ministers, held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in January 1950. At this meeting, a was established to provide a framework within which international cooperation efforts could be promoted to raise then standards of people in the region. Originally conceived as lasting for a period of six years, the Colombo Plan was extended several times until 1980, when it was extended indefinitely. Initially it was called the Colombo Plan for Cooperative Economic Development in South and Southeast Asia. It has grown from a group of seven Commonwealth nations - Australia, Britain, Canada, Ceylon, India, New Zealand and Pakistan - into an international organization of 26, including non-Commonwealth countries. When it adopted a new constitution in 1977, its name was changed to "The Colombo Plan for Cooperative Economic and Social Development in Asia and the Pacific" to reflect the expanded composition of its enhanced membership and the scope of its activities. In the early years, Colombo Plan assistance from developed to developing countries comprised both transfer of physical capital and technology as well as a strong component of skills development. Hence, while infrastructure by way of airports, roads, railways, dams, hospitals, fertilizer plants, cement factories, universities, and steel mills were constructed in member countries through Colombo Plan assistance, a large number of people were simultaneously trained to manage such infrastructure and the growing economies.

Purpose

The "Plan" is not meant to be an integrated master plan to which national plans were expected to conform. It is, instead, a framework for bi-lateral arrangements involving foreign aid and technical assistance for the economic and social development of the region.

Objectives

• To promote interest in and support for the economic and social development of Asia and the Pacific;
• To promote technical cooperation and assist in the sharing and transfer of technology among member countries;
• To keep under review relevant information on technical cooperation between the member governments, multilateral and other agencies with a view to accelerating development through cooperative effort;
• To facilitate the transfer and sharing of the developmental experiences among member countries within the region with emphasis on the concept of South-south cooperation

The Organizational Structure Of The Colombo Plan

The principal organs of the Colombo Plan are - the Consultative Committee, the Council and the Secretariat. Administrative costs of the Council and Secretariat are borne equally by the 25 member countries.

• The Consultative Committee (CCM), comprises all member governments and is the highest review and policy making body of the Colombo Plan. Its biennial meetings provide a forum for the exchange of views on current development problems facing member countries and review the work of the Colombo Plan in economic and social development within the region.
• The Colombo Plan Council, comprises heads of diplomatic missions of member governments who are resident in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The President of the Council is nominated from among member countries annually on an alphabetical rotational basis. The Council meets every quarterly to identify important development issues facing its members and ensure the smooth implementation of the Consultative Committee's decisions.
• The Colombo Plan Secretariat, headed by a Secretary-General is located in Colombo, Sri Lanka, since 1951 and functions as the secretariat for the Consultative Committee and the Council. The Secretariat is responsible for the effective administration and implementation of the programmes of the Colombo Plan, in partnership with member countries and collaborating agencies.

Funding

A special characteristic of the Colombo Plan is that the administrative costs of the Council and the Secretariat are borne equally by all member countries. However, the training programmes of the Colombo Plan are voluntarily funded by traditional as well as newly emerging donors among its member countries. Developing member countries are also encouraged to meet local currency costs whenever training programmes are held in their respective countries. The Colombo Plan training programmes are also funded by contributions from non-member governments and regional/international organizations. Speech by Dato' Patricia Yoon-Moi Chia in Colombo on 5 July 2010, The gearing up of the level of our activities is made possible through the voluntary contributions of member countries and international agencies such as OPEC fund. Last year our programming was over US$10 million and we expect a more than US$12 million programming this year with almost another US$2 million in terms of cost-sharing from our member countries. With funding from the United States Government and 13 other member countries, the Colombo Plan is now the biggest stakeholder in drug demand reduction in the Asia-Pacific, with a special initiative in Afghanistan.^[1]

Programmes

The Colombo Plan has 4 permanent programmes:

• Programme for Public Administration & Environment (PPA & ENV)
• Programme for Private Sector Development (PPSD)
• Drug Advisory Programme (DAP)
• Long-Term Scholarships Programme (LTSP)

The Plan Now

Over the years, while adhering to the concept of human resource development and south-south cooperation in addressing issues of economic and social development, the programme content of the Colombo Plan has been changing to take account of the needs of member countries in a fast changing world economic environment. In the early years, the training programmes were more of a long-term nature while recent programmes have been focusing on providing advance skills and experience sharing aimed at arriving at the best practices in different fields of economic and social activities as a means of good policy making and governance. The current programmes of the Colombo Plan are in the areas of public policy formulation in an environment of globalisation and market economy, private sector development as a prime mover for growth and in drug abuse and prevention in member countries. The Colombo Plan also provides skill development opportunities for technicians in middle level through another of its programmes the Colombo Plan Staff College for Technician Education located in Manila. A recent speech by current Secretary General, Dato' Patricia Yoon-Moi Chia on 5 July 2010 in Colombo states, the current Colombo Plan looks very different since our restructuring and revitalization in 1995. As we continue to build upon our past successes, the new Colombo Plan uses cooperation among developing member countries or South-south cooperation between the developed member countries and developing member countries, to underpin all our activities. Since our restructuring in 1995, we have now provided 16,082 scholarships to 23 member countries for both long-term and short-term training programmes^[2]

Past Secretary Generals

The Colombo Plan underwent an organizational transformation and renewal in 1995 and the then Colombo Plan Bureau became the Colombo Plan Secretariat to be headed by the Secretary-General, instead of a Director. The first Secretary-General was Dr. Kim Hak-su from Korea (January 1995 – March 1999) who was succeeded by Dr. Sarat Chandran, India (April 1999 – June 2003) and Mr. Kittipan Kanjanapitkul from Thailand (June 2003 – August 2007). The incumbent Secretary-General, Dato’ Patricia Yoon-Moi Chia from Malaysia assumed duties on 7 August 2007, as the 20th head of the Organization and also the first Asian female to helm this position.

Colombo Plan Scholars

• Livy Wijemanne (Sri Lankan), pioneer of Radio Ceylon.
• Khaw Boon Wan (Singapore), current Minister for Health in Singapore.
• Yeo Cheow Tong (Singapore), Member of Parliament in Singapore.
• Tan Sri Datuk Seri Panglima Joseph Pairin Kitingan (Malaysia), Deputy Chief Minister and Minister of Rural Development of Sabah.
• Mapatunage James "M. J." Perera (Sri Lankan), he created broadcasting history by being the first Ceylonese Director General of Radio Ceylon, the oldest radio station in South Asia, taking over the helm from John Lampson of the BBC.
• Raymond Lim Siang Keat (Singapore), current Minister for Transport in Singapore.
• Dr. Baburam Bhattarai (Nepal), current Prime Minister of Nepal.
• Dr. K.V. Thiruvengadam (India), Indian physician and medical teacher.
• Dato' Hajji Abdul Ghani Bin Othman (Malaysia), current Grand Minister of the state Johor in Malaysia.

Early Criticism

The Plan can be criticized on various grounds. Some Asians will see in it only the hand of the British imperialism, especially as it is not aimed at developing national self-sufficiency. It offers an almost exclusively economic solution for problems which are also political and social. Dangerous issues such as landlordism and the organization of labour, which invite Communist exploitation, are barely touched on, doubtless because it seemed politically inexpedient to raise such questions.^[3]

Present members

The Colombo Plan currently has 25 members, including countries in the Asia-Pacific region, non Commonwealth countries and countries belonging to regional groupings such as ASEAN (Association of South-East Asian Nations) and SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation).

Colombo Plan Staff College for Technician Education Logo

Member economy	Date of accession
Afghanistan	1963
Australia	1950
Bangladesh	1972
Bhutan	1962
Brunei	2008
Fiji	1972
India	1950
Indonesia	1953
Iran	1966
Japan	1954
South Korea	1962
Laos	1951
Malaysia	1957
Maldives	1963
Mongolia	2004
Myanmar	1952
Nepal	1952
New Zealand	1950
Pakistan	1950
Papua New Guinea	1973
Philippines	1954
Singapore	1966
Sri Lanka	1950
Thailand	1954
United States	1951
Vietnam	2004

Past members

There have been four Past members of the Colombo Plan including two founding members in 1950, Canada and the United Kingdom. South Vietnam joined in 1951 and on 2 Jul 1976 was succeeded by Socialist Republic of Vietnam which withdrew 1978. Vietnam was a provisional member from 5 Nov 2001 to 18 Nov 2003 until it was accepted in 2004.

Member economy	Date of accession	Date of deposition
Canada	1950	1992
United Kingdom	1950	1991
Cambodia	1951	2004
South Vietnam	1951	1975

External links

• Colombo Plan - Official Site
• International Organizations - The Colombo Plan
• The Colombo Plan flag
• Video: Two wars, three cities, four generations - the story of a Colombo Plan scholarship winner. Created by Anh Donald as part of the Vietnamese 'Living Treasures' project, State Library of Queensland, Australia. (Windows Media Player, RealPlayer)
• [1]
• [2]

References

1. ^ http://www.colombo-plan.org/resources/speeches/59Anniversary_05072010.pdf, Colombo, 5 July 2010, Retrieved on 2010-10-01.
2. ^ http://www.colombo-plan.org/resources/speeches/59Anniversary_05072010.pdf, Colombo, 5 July 2010. Retrieved on 2010-10-01.
3. ^ http://www.jstor.org/pss/3024398