that the center might not be seen as totally 

 independent of control by governments. 



Improving Access to the Technologies 

 of Industrialized Countries 



One of the major needs of developing nations, 

 according to their own leaders, is greater and more 

 efficient access to information about the range of 

 technologies available from the developed nations or 

 other developing nations. The developing countries 

 also want to increase their ability to make comparative 

 assessments of these technologies. We have already 

 noted that developing nations are likely to require 

 technology from outside sources for many years. It is 

 difficult to determine which of the variety of 

 available technologies would be optimally suited to a 

 given nation's needs and goals. The two initiatives 

 offered here address this problem and the related need 

 to enhance the ability of officials of developing 

 nations to negotiate effectively with foreign firms 

 that want to invest in industrial operations in their 

 countries. 



Initiative 9. Create Expertise on the Search for 



and Selection of Technology 



We suggest that the United States propose 

 international support for an activity that would (1) 

 train persons in how to search for and select 

 industrial technologies, taking into consideration the 

 comparative social and economic costs and benefits of 

 alternative technologies; and (2) make these persons 

 available to developing country governments or business 

 firms to serve in what would be essentially a 

 consulting capacity. The World Bank or an appropriate 

 U.N. body might be the logical location for such an 

 activity. 



Consultation on the selection of technology is 

 already available to developing nations from a number 

 of sources, including private technical and management 

 consulting firms, development finance institutions such 

 as the World Bank, and other sources. However, under 

 this initiative we would add the following to the 

 existing capability. First, the competence of 

 consultants on industrial technology choice would be 

 upgraded, especially those within the development 

 finance institutions. Second, the numbers of 

 specialists who assess industrial technologies would be 

 increased. Many of the experts on technology 

 assessment specialize in agricultural or civil 



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