Bridging the Technological Gaps between Rich and Poor Countries

Implicit in the technological gap between rich and poor countries is something more than acquisition of technical knowledge and the training of technical manpower. Implanted capabilities to manufacture industrial products and intermediate goods entail sustained relationships over extended periods of time between technology donors and recipient firms. It should be noted that problems and issues associated with the transfer of technology among industrialised countries are of a different order than transfers between industrially-advanced and newly industrialised countries, stemming from the much wider disparities in respective levels of technical knowledge and industrial capabilities.2 A further distinction also needs to be drawn between an ability to utilise acquired technology, with little or no alteration, and research and engineering capabilities to develop indigenous technology or to adjust acquired technology to local needs and conditions.