SINO-SOVIET BLOC ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES IN UNDERDEVELOPED AREAS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP92B01090R000700010076-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 10, 2005
• Sequence Number: 76
• Publication Date: January 5, 1959
• Content Type: REPORT

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Copy N? 391
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BIWEEKLY REPORT
SINO - SOVIET BLOC
ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES
IN UNDERDEVELOPED AREAS
EIC-WGR-1 /76
5 January 1959
PREPARED BY THE WORKING GROUP
ON SINO-SOVIET BLOC ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES
IN UNDERDEVELOPED AREAS
ECONOMIC INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE
SECRET
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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
19 December 1958 - 1 January 1959
The Sino-Soviet Bloc aid program in underdeveloped countries of
the Free World expanded considerably in 1958 in comparison with
1957, with the value of credits and grants being more than 3 times
greater in 1958 than in 1957. Major Bloc aid was extended to coun-
tries such as Iraq and Indonesia which previously had received little
or no Bloc aid, and efforts were made to expand the Bloc economic
position in Africa and Latin America. Features of the year were the
Soviet credit to Egypt for the Aswan Dam and substantial progress on
the Bhilai steel mill in India, the major Soviet showpiece in Asia.
Setbacks to the Bloc's efforts to expand economic relations with
the underdeveloped countries were encountered in Yugoslavia, where
the Bloc suspended credits last May, and at the Afro-Asian Conference
in Cairo, where Soviet and Chinese Communist suggestions were
coolly received.
The USSR will extend to Egypt a credit of $100 million toward
construction of the much-publicized High Dam at Aswan. Work will
begin on the dam in October 1959, and efforts will be made to com-
plete the work within 3 years. Soviet organizations will supervise
technical aspects of the work, and Soviet equipment will be used ex-
clusively.
Under the continuing campaign of harassment by the Bloc, Yugo-
slavia has been able to use less than 30 percent of a total of $464 mil-
lion in Bloc credits granted since January 1956. The Yugoslavs have
estimated that trade with Eastern Europe in 1958 will be 15 to 20 per-
cent less than planned.
A Burmese decision to seek grant aid for nonessential projects
and to cut back expenditures for technical assistance will directly
affect several major Soviet projects in Burma. Burma will permit
the USSR to continue the work of the Soviet agricultural team, the
work on construction projects, and the implementation of two irriga-
tion projects only if all these activities are carried on free of charge
to Burma.
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Czechoslovakia has agreed to furnish and install an automatic
telephone exchange at Kandahar in southern Afghanistan. Through
a willingness to accept payment in goods rather than hard currency,
Czechoslovakia was able to penetrate the Afghan communications
equipment market previously dominated by West German suppliers.
Yemen received its first shipment of goods from Communist China
on 28 December. At the same time, Chinese technicians, who had
arrived in Yemen earlier, began construction of a road.
Under the terms of a new Soviet-Indian aid agreement -- a part
of the Soviet contribution to the UNESCO technical aid program -- the
USSR will provide India with technical equipment and the services of
Soviet specialists. Moreover, under the terms of the agreement
50 Indian engineers will receive training in the USSR.
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CONTENTS
Pag
1. General (Major Developments in the Sino-Soviet Bloc
Aid Program in 1958) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
A. South Asia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
B. Southeast Asia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
C. Middle East . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Africa . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
II. South Asia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
A. Czechoslovak Automatic Telephone Exchange
for Afghanistan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
B. Additional Soviet Technological Assistance for
India Under the UNESCO Program . . . . . .
III. Southeast Asia (Burmese Request to Place Soviet
Aid on a Grant Basis) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
IV. Middle East and Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
A. UAR Acceptance of Soviet Offer on Aswan High
Dam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
B. Chinese Communist Activities in Yemen . . . . . . 8
V. Europe (Continued Bloc Economic Harassment
of Yugoslavia) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
e
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