SINO-SOVIET BLOC ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES IN UNDERDEVELOPED AREAS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP92B01090R000700020063-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 3, 2005
• Sequence Number: 63
• Publication Date: June 3, 1963
• Content Type: REPORT

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BIWEEKLY REPORT
SING - SOVIET BLOC
ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES
IN UNDERDEVELOPED AREAS
EIC WGR 1/191
3 June 1963
PREPARED BY THE WORKING GROUP
ON SINO-SOVIET BLOC ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES
IN UNDERDEVELOPED AREAS
ECONOMIC INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE
SECRET
397 25X1
25X1
GROUP 1
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Summary of Events
17-30 May 1963
During June or July an official Chilean commercial mission will
visit several Bloc countries as well as the United States and Western
Europe. The planned visit to Eastern Europe results from Bloc over-
tures to expand trade and from domestic political pressure to explore
these prospects. Among the Chilean commodities to be discussed are
copper, iron, fishmeal, and wine. According to official Chilean statis-
tics, trade between Chile and the Bloc has been small, amounting to
about $3 million or less in each of the past 3 years. These data, how-
ever, tend to understate the level of trade between the two areas.
Copper sales to the Bloc and a barter arrangement with Poland totaled
nearly $5 million in 1962 -- still a small percentage of total Chilean
trade.
During 1963, Rumania will provide Cuba with 1, 500 tractors for
use in next year's sugar harvest. The total cost of the tractors is esti-
mated to be $3 million and will be drawn from the $15 million credit
Rumania extended to Cuba in January 1961. When added to the value of
3, 500 Rumanian tractors and spare parts shipped to Cuba in 1961 and
1962, estimated drawings against the credit total at least $11 million.
Assistance to underdeveloped countries for the development of
thermal electric and hydroelectric power facilities is an important part
of the Bloc aid program to these areas and is a significant factor in the
expansion of industrial production of the aid recipients. Major examples
of aid for electric power are the Aswan High Dam in the United Arab
Republic (UAR) and the numerous thermal electric power projects in
India.
Since 1954 the Bloc has obligated nearly $800 million for electric
power projects in 18 countries. The major portion is for projects in
the UAR and India. Approximately 90 percent of such aid is being fur-
nished by the USSR and Czechoslovakia.
Implementation of these projects has not been without its problems.
Some projects were not completed on schedule, exceeded original cost
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estimates, and were provided with poor-quality equipment. To some
extent these difficulties are similar to those faced by Bloc countries in
the construction of their own powerplants. Shortcomings in performing
functions that are the responsibility of the underdeveloped country also
contribute to the slow progress on many power projects.
The requirements of the aid program have necessitated a revision
of priorities in the allocation of resources in Bloc countries. In both
the USSR and Czechoslovakia, the agreements to provide electric power
equipment to underdeveloped countries were superimposed on ambitious
programs for expanding domestic capacity. The Bloc probably will
meet its external commitments, but some downward revision of domestic
priorities will be required.
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Soviet Bloc Aid to Underdeveloped Countries
in the Field of Electric Power . . . . . . . . . . .
II. Latin America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
A. Chile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
B. Cuba . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
III. Brief Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Algeria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Mauritania . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Pakistan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Peru . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Somali Republic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
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