SINO-SOVIET BLOC ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES IN UNDERDEVELOPED AREAS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP92B01090R000700010071-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 10, 2005
• Sequence Number: 71
• Publication Date: October 27, 1958
• Content Type: REPORT

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BEGET
Copy ,, II
? BIWEEKLY REPORT
SINO - SOVIET , BLOC
ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES
IN UNDERDEVELOPED AREAS
EIC-WGR-1 /71
27 October 1958
PREPARED BY THE WORKING GROUP
ON SINO-SOVIET BLOC ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES
IN UNDERDEVELOPED AREAS
ECONOMIC INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE
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WARNING
THIS MATERIAL CONTAINS INFORMATION AFFECT-
ING THE NATIONAL DEFENSE OF THE UNITED STATES
WITHIN THE MEANING OF THE ESPIONAGE LAWS,
TITLE 18, USC, SECTIONS 793 AND 794, THE TRANSMIS-
SION OR REVELATION OF WHICH IN ANY MANNER TO
AN UNAUTHORIZED PERSON IS PROHIBITED BY LAW.
These biweekly reports on "Sino-Soviet Bloc Economic Ac-
tivities in Underdeveloped Areas" are prepared and issued
by a Working Group of the Economic Intelligence Commit-
tee, including representatives of the Departments of State,
the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, Commerce, and Agricul-
ture; the International Cooperation Administration; the
Office of the Secretary of Defense; and the Central Intelli-
gence Agency. Their purpose is to provide up-to-date fac-
tual information on significant developments in the eco-
nomic relations of Sino-Soviet Bloc countries with under-
developed countries of the Free World. The EIC-R-14 series
of reports, under the same title, provide periodic summaries
and analytical interpretations of these developments.
Printed and Disseminated by the
Central Intelligence Agency
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Summary of Events
10 - 23 October 1958
Soviet Premier Khrushchev's proclamation on 23 October that
the USSR intends to assist Egypt in the construction of the Aswan
High Dam highlights the economic activities of the Sino-Soviet Bloc
in underdeveloped countries of the Free World during the period
10 - 23 October 1958. According to this announcement, the USSR
will extend, in response to Egypt's request, a credit of 400 million
rubles ($100 million) for the first phase of the project.
On 20 October, India and Rumania signed an agreement provid-
ing for a Rumanian credit estimated to be about $18 million for the
construction of India's first state-owned petroleum refinery, to be
located at Gauhati in Assam state.
In Ceylon, implementation of the $30-million Economic Coopera-
tion Agreement with the USSR has been slow. So far, only one project
contract has been signed, although it was announced at the time of the
signing of the agreement that as many as 16 projects would be under-
taken.
Indonesia purchased 200, 000 metric tons of Chinese Communist
rice from the USSR; the city of Djakarta bought buses valued at
$168, 000 from Hungary; the Indonesian Army purchased heavy engi-
neering and construction equipment valued at $15 million from the
USSR; and the Indonesian government plans to finance the construc-
tion of an iron works with funds available under the $100-million
Soviet loan.
A Bulgarian firm is about to purchase a small meatpacking plant
in Asmara, Ethiopia. Two West German companies will operate the
plant in partnership with the Bulgarian firm.
The Prime Minister of Guinea received a telegram from the
USSR containing assurances of economic and technical aid for his
country, and three East German diplomats who arrived in Conakry
on 13 October offered to exchange machinery for Guinea bananas.
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Iran and Poland have signed a protocol to their trade and pay-
ments agreement, expanding trade between the two countries by 25
percent. A transit agreement was also signed.
The government of Iraq has approved the preliminary draft of
a trade agreement with East Germany. Trade delegations from
Hungary and Czechoslovakia also are in Iraq holding discussions
that are expected to lead eventually to further trade agreements.
The USSR has adopted a policy which indicates its distaste for
the strongly anti-Communist government formed in Finland on
29 August and which seems designed to bring about the fall of this
government. A manifestation of this policy is the Soviet failure to
reply to a Finnish proposal that trade talks begin on 7 October --
a proposal of critical importance to the Finns. Finnish officials
fear that this policy may lead to restrictions on Soviet imports from
Finland.
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CONTENTS
Page
I. South Asia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I
A. Sigiing of Indian-Rumanian Oil Refinery Agree-
ment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
B. Ceylonese-Soviet Economic Cooperation Agree-
ment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
II. Southeast Asia (Indonesia) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
A. Acceptance of Additional Soviet Offers . . . . . . 2
B. Hungarian Credit for Indonesian Buses . . . . . . 3
A. Soviet Aid for Aswan High Dam . . . . . . . . . 4
B. Ethiopian Meatpacking Plant . . . . . . . . . 4
C. Soviet Bloc Overtures to Guinea . . . . . . . . 5
D. Iranian-Polish Trade and Transit Agreements . . 5
E. Iraqi-Soviet Bloc Trade Agreements . . . . . . . 6
F. Israeli Purchase of Asbestos from the USSR . . 7
IV. Europe (Soviet-Finnish Economic Relations) .
A. Postwar Soviet Influence . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
B. Current Developments . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
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