ABSTRACT

For the present and prospective development of the Region certain basic materials are of great importance, either as necessary resources for its own industrialization on any foundation of major or partial ‘self-supply’, or as valuable earners when exported. In the latter aspect dependence on exporting raw materials is, however, the sign of the abhorred colonial status. Moreover, the instability of the basic materials situation – owing to the changing technical requirements for them on the one hand, the fluctuating production and markets on the other – is an anxiety for the developing countries almost as great as the crisis of food. In none of these respects is the material base of the Region satisfactory and it appears broadly to be worsening in comparison to the general progress of the world, especially in terms of per capita calculations against the growth of population.