Colombo Plan

The Colombo Plan (Cooperative Economic and Social Development in Asia and the Pacific)
The Colombo Plan member countries shown in blue
Headquarters		Colombo
Official languages		English
Type		Economic forum
Member countries		25
Leaders
-	Secretary-General	Ms. Patricia Yoon-Moi CHIA
Establishment
-	Colombo Plan for Co-operative Economic Development in South and South-East Asia	28 Nov 1950
-	Plan operations commencement	1 Jul 1951
Website http://www.colombo-plan.org/

The Colombo Plan is a regional organization that embodies the concept of collective inter-governmental effort to strengthen economic and social development of member countries in the Asia-Pacific Region. The primary focus of all Colombo Plan activities is on human resources development.

The organization was born out of a Commonwealth Conference of Foreign Ministers, held in Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), in January 1950. At this meeting, a Consultative Committee was established to provide a framework within which international cooperation efforts could be promoted to raise the living standards of people in the region. Originally conceived as lasting for a period of six years, the Colombo Plan was extended several times until 1980, when it was extended indefinitely.

The "Plan" is not meant to be an integrated master plan to which national plans were expected to conform. It is, instead, a framework for bi-lateral arrangements involving foreign aid and technical assistance for the economic and social development of the region.

The principal organs of the Colombo Plan are - the Consultative Committee, the Council and the Secretariat. Administrative costs of the Council and Secretariat are borne equally by the 25 member countries.

Present members

The Colombo Plan currently has 25 members, including countries in the Asia-Pacific region, non Commonwealth countries and countries belonging to regional groupings such as ASEAN (Association of South-East Asian Nations) and SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation).

Colombo Plan Staff College for Technician Education Logo

Member economy	Date of accession
Afghanistan	1963
Australia	1950
Bangladesh	1972
Bhutan	1962
Fiji	1972
India	1950
Indonesia	1953
Iran	1966
Japan	1954
South Korea	1962
Laos	1951
Malaysia	1957
Maldives	1963
Mongolia	2004
Myanmar	1952
Nepal	1952
New Zealand	1950
Pakistan	1950
Papua New Guinea	1973
Philippines	1954
Singapore	1966
Sri Lanka	1950
Thailand	1954
United States of America	1951
Vietnam	2004

Past members

There have been four Past members of the Colombo Plan including two founding members in 1950, Canada and the United Kingdom. South Vietnam joined in 1951 and on 2 Jul 1976 was succeeded by Socialist Republic of Vietnam which withdrew 1978. Vietnam was a provisional member from 5 Nov 2001 to 18 Nov 2003 until it was accepted in 2004.

Member economy	Date of accession	Date of deposition
Canada	1950	1992
United Kingdom	1950	1991
Cambodia	1951	2004
South Vietnam	1951	1975

External links

• Colombo Plan - Official Site
• International Organizations - The Colombo Plan
• The Colombo Plan flag
• Video: Two wars, three cities, four generations - the story of a Colombo Plan scholarship winner. Created by Anh Donald as part of the Vietnamese 'Living Treasures' project, State Library of Queensland, Australia. (Windows Media Player, RealPlayer)
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