European Countries Sign Pact with Israel on Technical Aid Program

Talks between the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and Israel ended here today with the signing of agreements for Israel’s cooperation in implementing the OECD’s technical aid programs for 1964. The OECD is an organization set up by European countries to facilitate economic cooperation.

One of the agreements provides for the holding in Israel of an OECD seminar on regional development and growth. The aim of the seminar, to be held later this year, is to make an a analysis of organizational and institutional procedures for regional development planning and implementation of such planning participating countries.

Representatives of national policy-making and planning from four Mediterranean member countries of the OECD will join with Israeli experts in the conference. The OECD plans to engage Yehuda Landau of the Israel Regional Development Study Center of the National and. University Institute of Agriculture as a consultant for preparation of the seminar.

Another agreement provides for a number of Israeli experts to be sent to Crete to aid local authorities in preparing a comprehensive economic development plan. This will include agriculture, industry, tourism and other services. The project will be carried out in the coming months.

The agreements were signed by Michael S. Harris, deputy secretary-general of OECD, and Moshe Bartur, Israel’s permanent delegate to the European office of the United Nations in Geneva. An OECD spokesman emphasized the important role which Israel has in the field of technical aid as a whole. He said that the OECD, as with many other international organizations, availed itself gladly of the services which Israel can provide in execution of the OECD assistance programs designed for member countries particularly in the Mediterranean area.