CO-FINANCING HEADLINES IRFFI DONORS COMMITTEE

UNCLAS BAGHDAD 004006 SIPDIS SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAID ECON EFIN EINV IZ SUBJECT: CO-FINANCING HEADLINES IRFFI DONORS COMMITTEE MEETING REF: A. ROME 2415 ¶B. TAECKER - RIES EMAIL OF 12/6/07 ¶C. BAGHDAD 2550 ¶1. (SBU) Begin Summary: Ambassador De Martino chaired the first International Reconstruction Fund Facility for Iraq (IRFF) Donors Committee meeting following Bari. Recently arrived UN SRSG Steffan De Mistura also gave opening remarks during a mostly unremarkable meeting. MoPDC senior advisor Dr. Faik Abdul Rasool was the sole GOI representative present. EMIN expressed our support for a co-financing scheme governing future donor assistance projects, a concept paper for which is scheduled to be completed by January 2008. End Summary. -------------- IRFFI Donors Meeting -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Ambassador Gianludovico De Martino, Director of Italian MFA Iraq Task Force, chaired the December 8 IRFFI Donor Committee meeting. UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General De Mistura's opening remarks highlighted SIPDIS 2008 as a window of opportunity to ensure security gains in Iraq are capitalized upon. He conveyed the UN's position that new projects should incorporate a greater degree of co-financing from the GOI to demonstrate Iraqi ownership and underscore GOI sovereignty. De Mistura hailed the IRFFI Terms of Reference which were approved at the Bari meeting as they reinforced the harmonization of IRFFI and the International Compact with Iraq (ICI). ¶3. (SBU) De Martino indicated that a concept paper for the cost sharing arrangement would be disseminated by the end of January for donor review. The paper would provide donors with standard agreement text to formalize the cost sharing arrangement. De Martino added that IRFFI planned to hold three meetings in 2008: one located in the Gulf; one in Baghdad; and another in Europe. The goal of the meetings would be to encourage private sector investment in Iraq as well as to secure additional donations for IRFFI, especially from GCC countries. ¶4. (SBU) Dr. Faik Abdul Rasool expressed support for the three planned private sector investment conferences in 2008. He claimed that progress on ICI implementation was ongoing, citing the formation of Thematic Working Groups. He complained about the slow movement on establishing the ICI Secretariat and noted the difficulty for Iraqis resident SIPDIS outside of the International Zone to participate in meetings within the IZ. ¶5. (SBU) EMIN expressed USG support for the co-financing proposal. He stated that before contemplating conferences aimed at attracting private sector investment, the GOI needs to stand up a National Investment Commission as well as secure passage of the hydrocarbon framework law. EMIN also underscored the fact that the international community in tandem with the GOI must take advantage of the window of opportunity that has opened following the substantial improvements in security. -------------- De Martino US Embassy Meetings -------------- ¶6. (SBU) De Martino requested separate meetings on December 8 to discuss donor aid issues at the US Embassy with EMIN, economic section, Treasury, Office of Provincial Affairs (OPA),Iraq Transition Assistance Office (ITAO),and MNSTC-I. During the discussion, De Martino strongly lobbied for coordination of IRFFI, ICI and bilateral donor development projects. ITAO opening up the Donor Assistance Database (DAD) to both the Iraqis and the international donor community was raised and was endorsed by EMIN. Embassy will follow up on this initiative. (COMMENT: Econoff also was approached by the World Bank Deputy Andrew Laing on December 7 to open up the DAD to the international donor community and Iraqis as part of the ICI implementation.) In addition, the topic of "internationalizing PRTs" was broached with OPA--areas of focus for the international member could be local budget execution, monitoring IRRFI and ICI projects, encouraging private investment and/or running small grants from country of origin. BUTENIS