ABSTRACT
Assistance to Central Europe is too a phenomenon to have yielded the kind of evidence that would be necessary for more sophisticated analysis of all its specific elements. The Task Force has found no evidence to suggest that monies set aside for assistance purposes have been misappropriated. The experience of development aid and, to a lesser extent, the model of the Marshall Plan have dominated thinking on assistance to Central Europe. If the West aims to help the countries of Central and Eastern Europe to recover through their own efforts, then the overriding condition of assistance allocation must be that governments pursue sound and sustainable economic policies. During the first phase of transition, the G-24 Coordination Unit played an important part in coordinating the assistance efforts of the G-24 countries. Assistance which multiplies its value through local matching requirements can be an effective means of encouraging investment in key areas.
