$740,000 Grant Finances Team To Aid Malaysia

The Ford Foundation has awarded Harvard $740,000 grant to advise Malaysia on economic problems and government administration.

Six social scientists selected by Harvard will study such problems as the industrial structure of the country to build up native industries and increase exports. The team will also report on the agriculture and suggest methods of decreasing the country's dependence on imported foodstuffs.

Merle Fainsod, Member of the Faculty of the Graduate School of Public Administration, spent a month in Malaysia last year studying government administrative problems.

The grant will also allow a number of Malaysian government officials to study for a graduate degree in economics or public administration at universities in the United States and in Europe.

The present grant is for a two year period. The program is expected to run from eight to ten years, Lester E. Gordon, Deputy Director of the Development Advisory Service of the Center for International Affairs, said yesterday. He did not anticipate any difficulties in refunding the program.