Ghana- One of Canada's primary aid targets

GATINEAU, Que. - The federal government will name 25 countries as prime targets for Canadian foreign aid as Ottawa moves Tuesday to drastically pare down its list of aid recipients.

Canada plans to focus its aid dollars on countries such as Ghana, Tanzania, Mozambique, Bangladesh and Bolivia in the hope of boosting their impact, The Canadian Press has learned. The funding announcement will be among the highlights of Ottawa's long-awaited foreign policy blueprint, which sets a new direction for a handful of government departments.

The Canadian International Development Agency will announce that two-thirds of future bilateral aid will go to 25 countries named Tuesday, government sources said.

The bilateral fund is Canada's largest assistance program and is currently divvied up among more than half the world's nations - about 155 in all. Critics say aid dollars are scattered too widely to have a real impact.

The foreign-policy document has been in the works since the day Prime Minister Paul Martin entered office 16 months ago and has undergone major rewrites at his request.

Canadian trade, diplomacy and international development policy will be revamped but the military is expected to make the biggest splash.

One obvious area is in countries that are trying to build stable democracies.

The preferred list of 25 such nations will be a main focus of Canada's bilateral aid envelope - which accounts for 40 per cent of the $3.7 billion Ottawa annually spends on assistance.

Countries left off the list can still access a small fraction of that bilateral envelope, or other funds Ottawa sends through world institutions like UNICEF and non-governmental organizations.

The prime minister also pointed out Monday that Canada has promised to increase foreign aid by eight per cent a year. But he refused to commit to reaching the traditional target of spending 0.70 per cent of Canada's GDP on aid.