Announcement of a Report Published About a Mission to Iraq on February 11, 1952

·,1,,h-,-- , .,.-v e.--- "-;l 2 Pt> "H~·. F.OR RE!,EASE HOl,P FOR ftEI,iASE; .: INT~NATIOWAL :aANK FOR RECONSTRUcTioN AND D~VELOPMENT Was·hingtQn, D. c. FOR THE PREss· FOR RELEASE Monday, ll A.M •. Press Rel.ease No. 280 F~bru~y. 11, l~S2 Recommendations tor a development program to:r Iraq. were today made publio. in the :r~ort ot a ~2'$1.0ll sent to Iraq undeJ"" the $J>On~orship of tlle Inte;rnattonal Bank fo~Reaonstruction aJtd PevelQpment. W.A.B. ni;'f, Assistant to the :President or the International Banlc, pree;ent,d ' d 'Atta~es of the a,e~ort in Washington today to Mr, !h.clullal} Ibrahim Bakr,. Charge the Iraq Embassy, !or transmittal to the Prime Mini«ste;r of Iraq., His Excellency, Nlµ'i Al Said, 'l'he Mia~ion,- under the leacle:t"tlhip of Ivar Rooth, now Managing •• Director of the Internati~nal Monetary fund, went to r.raq in February 19S~ for a stay o! ~hree months, at the request of ,he Government of lraq, to r~vi~w tbe economic potentialities Qf the country and to make r~comme~dation~ fo~ a. develop-- ment program, The fAO p+ovided the agficult'IU'al specialist~ for the Mission,. and WHO and UNESCO ~ominated experts i..~ health and ed~cation, respeQtively~ The Mission found that lraq "p~ssesse~ impressive potentialities tor economic development." Its river~ C$1 prov:tde l~ge ano\JilttJ of water for the irrigat:l,cn ot its ~~ently rioh soil; '1'lc:l the Miss;S.on ;Ls contj.d.ent that witn proper iaegQlati,on and ~re economic use ot wJter r~C!ouroes the area ~der ('~ltivation can b«, greaUy increased.. The rapidly gr9Wing output ot oU will not only nei.d large revenqe, to tn• country., but will ali,~ proTI.de J cheap so~ce of po,er, ,md J-aw mate;rial, essential to the deve~op~ent ot industry, agric~tqre and tian.sportation. I) In,r:ielation to t~e size and v~qe ot the~e reso,u-ce~ in land., w•ter, all~ oU,., • the pop~ation ot Iraq ts small., ~d t,;tie Mi{ffton is of the op~op that the oo'untry QaJ'l ult~tely ~ntain a ~ucti l.~ge~ pt>pulati.on with - consj.derat,,ly high,r ~y·: 'i /i ,,· ~~- .. 2 ... standard Qf living,. The .tund~etital rea,on..1 tcr the present low standard of livµig has been low producti"*ity; and developnt~bt has been handicapped by .financial st:r;-ingenc1es whS.cb have ae..,erely Umlted 1>ubllQ expenditur,s, lraq, ha,rever, is on the threshold of potentia.ll,y great progress-. Pro~ective 1.ncreases in ~evenue ~D.l oU now make tt possible tor the Govenwient to ~dertake a la~e,-scale de• velol)ment program. By 19.$6, oU revenues ma1 riee to s,.,000,000 Iraqi dinars ($16$,200,000) ~ually and to a net tqtal ~t 2i4,ooo.,oon dinai-~ ($S99,200,000) ov~ the next ti.ve yea~~ 'the N;lssion ~ge13 that these ris~~ :reven~t$ ~boul4 continue to be ass~gned, as at present, to t~e Development aoard whicb was e~abUshed in l.9$.0 to ensur~ greater contin~ty 111 developrn.~t. T)le Bank Ml*3S10I) worked closely with the D~velopmen;t; BQard wnUe in I~aq., and in -~~g its recommendations t~ok into aecQunt the BQ~d's p~esent p~ans f9~ developm.ent. • As ov~ 60% <>f the popul•tic;,n ls engag-e4 ui ag:rloult~e and ipdu~ry dep~nd l~gely ol) and as both commerce tarrq:j.ng and an!Jnal husban~, t.~st a~tention i,. given in the Report to th~ developnient of ag:r;l.e\lltqx,e, While the ~~s:ton reeog.... nizes the ~ortance ot brj.nging addj.tional land '1!lde;r cultivation, primarily- through the extension of irrtgation, it warn~ aga;l.pijt neglee~ing tne task of in" creasing th~ present J.ow p;rc;,ducti"lity ot a.gr:i,cl,llt~e. 1o tlrl,;s end it ~eeomnumds in particular the alloQ~tion o! m1,1eb l~ger tlUlds to tne (\J'ainage ot exten,ive areas of l$1ld where production has 'beell. seriously' attect,d. by accwnulation of salt. Tllere is great seope tQf., improving t~e-hallnw~d metn9cl~ ~t ouiiivati® and animal,. husbandry., and the !Vlis~i(ll lU'g~s that a trtrong extension setvtoe, supporte4 by a praetiQal . ~es~tP'Qh ' or~~ization, be d~valQped to ass1.et farl118rs ' in improTI,ng theu practices. OJ;'g~i~atton ot cQop~rattve~ and .improvement ot credit and ~tf>rage :tacilittes are al.~o recommended. In o~der to carry qut thes~e • /: // meaQU;fe~ etfect~vely,, the Ivl;$sion ;ptopoe3es tne e$ta'blishm,nt. ot a separ,te Ministry of •gr;c\\lt"®t ,md ~~nd u,se. i1) /;  - .3 - •• With respect to the proble~ of land tenur~, the R$port notes that ''the de- presse~ ecQnom:Lc conditiQn of the fellah or sh~ecropper undoubtedly relards p:rogress" and pr~cts that "unless the aharecropper•s statl.ls is improyed tllere !/ wUl be a continl,\ed nig~t :trom the land." In this c9nnection, the ~$S!on coJn- m.ends th«. Go"'iafrwient 1 , p:rogram tor distr~b\lti.ng goveJ-nment l.ands anl.01'lg landless peasants., and ~e~Qmmends a ,tudy of the land tenure system by an expert. ln tne industrial.. fleld the Mi~$1on recQmmends the expansion of certu.n establ~shed 1ndustrte~ and the creation ot new ones. The lQ'ge;st and m9at.p,:-oin:ts'9 ing possibility, in the Miss!o~•s opµrl.on, !a the e~ta)lishme~t ot a ohem:1.c~ P+~t near Kirkuk, the center ot rqost o{ lraqrs petroieum pro4~ct1on and on$ ot the laf~est and r~~}lest oil fields in the wor+d• Tlrl,.s pl~t w9uid. uee natural gas, now almost totalir wa~ted; and gyp~qm as r~w materials and would be capable of produ<,illg annually S.00,.000 ton$ of anim<>n;iUill sulphate tert;i.Uzer., l00 1 QOO tons • of element~i sl,ll,phur, l0,000 ton$ ot e~bon blaot an~ 3001 000 tons of cement, ?he Mission fovncl th$t J:raqts tr~sl'ort $yatem i, ad~q'1ate tor ii~ present needs. Its chifltf ~eQQ~endati9:ns tor tne future ~e .foc'l.lssed. on the need for a replacement prog:r~ on the ra,Uways 1 the probleni of standax.-di~ing the r-ailway gauge 1 and tl\e development of an idequate netwo~k of surfaced rQ~ds. ~he Mission emphasiies tnat tne p;roQ~cti~ty ot manpower can be raised qn~y ~ m~asu.res ai-e takentQ.p~ovide Qett,;r educatj.on tor the people an<;i to fre4e them t:rom dt,,bj.lit,ating cU,:,e~s4'.- Effo;rts to iml):rove neuth shqQld be eon~$ntra,ted JTJS.in.,. ly on preventive meas~es., ,µob as iJlQreasing the mum,~ ot vU+age dispensa_riee, the training ot. auxili~ medical peJ"scmn,i, the :provisiQXl of aafe water S\lppl;.ie.s and 11ewJge· d:tsposal,, ~<i pette~ :\'lous:l,n~. ?.cl~catton sh~uld be 4d.apted to the· practtcal ne·ed~ ot the people, helping tl1,ein to improve the~ ~ealth ~4 to :Learn • more •ttic.ie~t methods of wo~~~ Tl\& ~'.Sil.on ~ecoD11'Cl~nd~ the gradU,a.l i;ntroduo·~;i.on ,of oompµl,ory p : r ~ e~uQation qve:r the ?l~ lS ffU'#S ~d tnt l~wicning ~f a ,, • vigo~ov.s caJll)aign tor adult-education.. The cost of the 4evelopment: program the Mission has rec9mmended is ··t,st,imated at to'1ghly 168 1 000 1 000 Iraqi din~s·(equivJlent to $470,400:,·ooo) -for th~ perfcxl 1952/S3 to l9S6/S7 ine1ustve, 1-'be ltlasion sqgge,t.s t'lmt. the balance ·ot·1;~~t oU. :f~v«mues elq)ec=ted. to accrue ove:r thi:~ per~d JJlould be ·c·onsid~eq a resen.:e t~ cover p~1$$ible-·price ~o:reaaes, upexpee.ted shQ11;talls in revenue~ .and· ot)l_. con• t~ge:n.cies. ?be Mission ·point·s out that the. proposed prop-am "Feq\Q,f·es i ra~e ~! pi-ogi-es, unPfecedent~d tor a ·country which tQr many eent~ios re~ed vi,rtµallf stattQ and whicb Qver ·recent decades ~s (level9ped at a :relatively slow pace·•" Tbte difficulty ot spending money r.apldl.Y and ett:i.ci~tlY on weU..-conceived ·prq.-Ject·a 1Jho\u..d not be un~vesiirnated. pevelopm.nt ~endi.ture$, wh:b;h req~re propQftioff&tely t~ m<re • teeh?d.cal and admi.n1strative organization and preparation than .ordinary outlays., will.need tq ris!·to a rate of abQ-q.t ten times the total p~blic ·~apital e~endi- tu.res tn ·19.SQ./5.l.. "Such a :rate of expenditure," th~ M4.~$;J.on w~ll&., ·11 will be ·achieved only ~th ~eat, ettort and by car e,t'ul planning! It lA. ll !leee$sitate substantia:1 improvement in th, etf1c;iep.cy ot pubU<= ~~Jtr•t1on ,,, tnat the go:ve:r.nment '4.U be capable of coordlni,.ted planni,ng ~d •~ec~:t;lqn o( \he ~ogram. It ·wUl be ne.eeasaJ'y to tr;llce tuU advan t~g• of t-,clµu.cal as~!i~$t,mc·-,· ave:L )able abroad ~cl to enl4.st m..-perienced to;reign .t~~,. t~ t,he P'1l'Pote of pl¥fl1ng ·and desimiirlg ~.s weU. a, ,~ec~ti?.lg m.$jo:r wo:rks~" '.l'he Report makes $~V4'J:A recCQl1Je~dat1ona (or ~rqvemeptts ;n pul):J.io a ~ , - tr,tion wtiich will enable tll:e Gover~mt t9 car,y o\lt t-e cJtv~~tnt program. ·necent,:raUzJtion in detailed pla~g aid ~ec'\ltion ia #1i~e,t;u11d in opde:r t<> leaYe th.e p,veloP.Jff&lit J!fai-d tree t() wcr~ op ov•:r~l p:i&:~g. ,~d <Joordination and. .i,o • t, create among the entire govermmmt ,er.T,l,.ce a eenee ot J)•ni~1pation in crm,..,  ,. ..... -··· The Ret>ort:f.s conclu,dm,g· chapter: de~,·-w:1.th the imp~t· of 1ihe de."lopm«mt pr.Qgra?fl (!)n. the ec·ono~· ot the·· eo•try.-,. o;r.,at , cha?Jgt·J, can· h _expected Whicn ttWUl, affect· the w!'lale .pattern or lUe~ of ·the p:eopl'e ot Iraq~. t1ile ~att.o~a11n~ome: will ~crease at an exeept:tcnal. rateJ, lafg$· shift·s. in emploYm~t w1.l;L tQe pJaQe.j;· 1' \ A' • ··• and tber~ will be a steady' pres,ure to iilo:rea,e wages~aii~·prfQes •. Tbe ~ss1on stres;se, .the iffll)Qrt~~e ere· .keeptng a wat·c~ OJl the nat~e of the eh~gee that- the econQl!\V .wiU ~dergo.,. and tor tlµ.~ p~po~e strongly .reconi.mend1 th,e_estab+ishment of a c~tt~e ecmsistin~ C>t an .ec9nq1"1a. a~aer to the, Development Boui!l, and., high-level representatives of the Nation-1 Ben!( ~d the. ~trie~ of Fiiiance and Eco.no~es·. 'l'his ~oup w,.,uJ.d re.c9mmend. dirfJQtl1 to th, ColUlcil . o~ Mi,n~s1;ers., \ () !I trends and at otf:u~trting any tendency toward the deve;i.o_pment. ot gro$~ in~q~tie~ . • in the- distribution of incQme~ The Rep"rt istat~s that "accomplis~t of. t}le greate~ pa~.or atl. .o~ the progi;-mn will'req~e the unlted ener;~es of the natiQn. While tore~ t$c~c,µ.. ' '' assistance and material~ wiU·be needecl, suecesscrrf . the pi'ogri) Will... depend, ·:, ' . above· all,.. upon :the peopl,e. of lx'aq.....~\lc.cess it w~s·s·ible with a pa~fJiVf_ p~pu,-. lation~. Individual. lraqis ~v.st b, given tJw.ough the! J)ress,. the ra~;l.o1 and .c,~h~ med:l.a ap undtJ'etan.ding of. what the government i, trying. to •ccomp~ah &Ad ~ow they themselves can oont~ibu.te to tht att~inmel)t ot'the: ob~eQttvea. They must ala,· tealize""'~he~ stake in, tbe pr()g:r&nl in the tQnu ot· a riting atancl~d ot µv- 1·1 ing and a nope toJ" ~ better tqture t.~ tneu- c·b.1,ldfen;~ t>evel9pment it a trul.7. indi'Vidl.lal a~ well a«s i natioQal etfQrt.,11 •  """6 - MEMBERS· Of I THE MISSION /'·-··. ' ' ' IVAR :ROOTJI (Sweden) Chief of Mission JOHN C. DE WILDE (United States) Chief Economist Jean R. c\e Fargues ·(France) :, - Adviser on I:rriga tion, Flc>_c,d .Control and ~aina·ge Carl Flesher (Unit~d. States) Adviser on Industry and Powe.~ E. R. Honqelink (Untted-Kingdom) Adviser .on TransportatiCJn Luther G. Jones (Untted States) - Agronomi.st An.tonio Kayanan .( PhiUppines.) Advis~ on Community Planning ap.d Hou.s~"'ig • Benjamin :e. King Economist (United Kingdom) =. Miroslav A. Kriz (United $tates) Adviser on Public Finance, Money and Banking Alb~t toren~en (United Kingdom) - Adviser en Public Health (:.. H. J.. Maliepaard · (Netherlands) ·- Agricultura.l Economist lC•· G• Saiyj.clain • (:tndia.) Adviser on Education P• W• Schuller (Netherlands) .. Advts~ on Pµ.blic Administra- . tion T•. ·· Threlkeld (United l{ingd!)m) - Adviser on Animal ijusbanr:;lcy }Eqgene .'Troy A~st~~tive Assist~nt Roae P:.U.1be11'to Eunice o~ Dorey Se~~;et;wj_es n {J