ABSTRACT
Development aid can take the form of direct aid from one country to another. However, aid in this form will gradually decrease in importance in the years to come. As development questions become increasingly interwoven with broader global and regional issues, the focal point of development activities will also have to shift in the same direction. That shift does not have to be made too hastily. For a number of developing countries, bilateral aid is still of vital importance and can be useful under certain conditions. However, that applies to a decreasing number of countries. If the pace of development between 2004 and 2008 continues, by 2020 classical developing countries like Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya and even Chad will be middle-income countries, at least according to current methods of measurement. The fate of these countries will then depend less on what financial support individual donors still wish to give them and more on how they respond to the opportunities they find and take for themselves in a globalizing world.
