. These planning regions and sub-regions
form the units of classification for a wide range of official government statistics. The idea of providing government assistance to particular areas of the country experiencing
substantial economic and/or social problems can be traced back to the 1930s when
the incumbent government first began to provide help to a number of depressed areas in
the form of low-interest loans, subsidised rents and the establishment of government trading
estates. Over the next 50 years, the system gradually evolved into one in which central
government delineated a number of types of assisted area which became eligible for
regional assistance