388 



ber 29, 1957. The support of the U.S. foreign aid program and of the 

 United Nations Technical Assistance Administration has already been 

 mentioned. Donations also came from New Zealand and other coun- 

 tries. Within a year, more than $4 million had been given or pledged, 

 and by the end of 1961 the figure came to almost $14 million. The prin- 

 cipal contributors were the United States, Japan, France, Australia, 

 ( Janada, India, and Israel. 



Mention should also be made of a separate study, undertaken shortly 

 after the Bureau of Reclamation had completed its work, under the 

 direction of ECAFE itself. The principal significance of this study is 

 that — in addition to endorsing the work of the Bureau — it called for a 

 broad river basin approach with close cooperation in planning and 

 development among the nations sharing the basin. 



Socio- Economic Research Planning : The Ford Foundation Study 



In 1961, a very different kind of study of the Mekong Basin was 

 undertaken. It was sponsored by a private foundation and addressed 

 the economic and social effects of the proposed development. Unlike 

 the previous investigations, it did not deal with the engineering feasi- 

 bility of construction projects nor with the technical exploitation of 

 their benefits. At the request of the Coordination Committee, the Ford 

 Foundation sent a mission headed by Gilbert F. White to advise on the 

 kinds of investigation needed in social science fields. The terms of 

 reference of the mission called for the identification of social data to 

 determine feasibility, benefits, impacts of specific constructions, ad- 

 ministrative management, design of studies, and priority of short-term 

 versus long-term projects. 



The report of the Ford Foundation mission 30 was made in Bangkok 

 in July 1962. It recommended substantial strengthening of the staff of 

 the Coordination Committee in social science fields for the purpose of 

 generating and collecting social statistics. It called for joint studies 

 with intergovernmental agencies on problems of wide interest in the 

 ECAFE region. It proposed that the Bank for International Recon- 

 struction and Development (World Bank) be invited to participate 

 in a study of methods for determining economic feasibility, and pointed 

 out that the primitive economy of the Riparian States imposed inex- 

 orable limits on the rate of investment in regional development. It 

 emphasized the need for a systematic compilation of available data 

 concerning resources, resource use, and social characteristics. A power 

 market survey, land use inventory, and study of ways to optimize 

 agricultural use of water were all needed. Training of technicians was 

 again emphasized. The report suggested that flood control benefits 

 might lie overstated and the institution of a flood warning system 

 could reduce losses at moderate cost. Tt suggested that a large demon- 

 stration area he set up where the potential impacts of the Mekong 

 projecl upon rural life could be observed. It proposed an elaborate 

 program of demonstration projects in forest planting. In the intro- 

 duction to the report, the authors warned that heavy investment in 

 engineering works would not automatically lead to solid growth in 



Iberl P. White. Egbert d<> Vrles, Harold B. Dunkerley, and John V. Krutilln. "Eco- 

 nomic and Social Aspects of Lower Mekong Develooments," Report to tlie Committee for 

 Coordination of Investigations of the Lower Mekong Basin, 1962, 



