A CONFERENCE on Pulp and Paper Development for Africa and the Near East was held in Cairo, United Arab Republic, from 8 to 18 March 1965, organized jointly by FAO, the United Nations, and its Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). It was attended by 162 government delegates and experts from 42 countries.
Third of a series of regional conferences which have highlighted FAO's continuing activities in the field of pulp and paper, the direct importance of this meeting is linked to the fundamental role that paper must play in the economic and social development of countries of Africa and the Near East.
In this area FAO estimates that paper consumption will rise from about 1 million tons in 1960 to about 4 million tons in 1980. Many countries in the region already import large portions or even all of their paper requirements. Rising paper imports would require heavy expenditures of foreign currency. Accordingly, one of the early conclusions of the conference was that as much as, possible of the future demand for paper should be met by production within the region. It is necessary to speed up the rate at which new pulp and paper industries are being established.
Experience in other regions has been that the simple establishment of domestic production facilities for paper and paperboard is frequently accompanied by a rapid rise in demand. For this reason the conference considered that future consumption of paper and paperboard in this part of the world might considerably exceed the present estimates of requirements.
The area's fibrous raw material resources are capable of sustaining a considerable expansion in pulp production and, if further developed, could also help meet the rapidly rising wider world demand. In recent years many governments in Africa and the Near East have explored the economic availability of potential raw material sources. Some countries have gone a step further by systematically establishing wood plantations to support specific mill projects. Interesting developments have also taken place in the utilization of nonwood fibrous raw materials, particularly bagasse.
The conference recognized that planning for trade and industrial development in the pulp and paper sector is not possible in isolation. It is dependent upon overall trade and development policies. The development of intraregional trade in pulp and paper might require not only elimination of tariff barriers and other obstacles to trade but also co-ordinated intercountry industrial planning and agreement to phase pulp and paper development plans and to facilitate specialization in production.
As regards the problem of mill size and its relation to market size, available raw materials, etc., the conference concluded that most mills looking toward domestic or regional consumption would be of a relatively small size, measured by the scale of recent installations in the industrialized countries. Export mills would, however, have to be contemplated to a much larger size.
Particular interest was displayed by conference participants in the development of refiner processes, such as semichemical, chemimechanical and mechanical. The work of the last decade appears now to have reached a point where these processes can be commercially employed. They are particularly suited to small plants, and furthermore appear to have great possibilities in improving the strength characteristics and yield of pulps made from nonconiferous fiber raw materials.
Specific recommendations to governments were that they:
(a) conduct preinvestment surveys to determine the cost and economic availability of the needed fiber and other resources;(b) select promising sites for new mills, and carry out feasibility studies for specific mill types and sizes in the selected locations;
(c) draw up short- and long-term programs for pulp and paper development, properly integrated into overall, economic development plans, and especially those concerned with strengthening the infrastructure - communications, power, water supply, etc.;
(d) co-ordinate between themselves their plans for developing this industrial sector, and related infrastructural development, in particular, intraregional transport facilities.
The conference invited the Director-General of FAO and the Executive Secretary of ECA to strengthen their programs for pulp and paper development in order to render more effective service to the countries of the region.
