IRAQI CENTRAL BANKERS RECEIVE TRAINING IN CAIRO

UNCLAS CAIRO 002202 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/ELA, NEA/I, NEA/ASST, NEA/RA, EB/IDF TREASURY FOR IA/SAEED, MATHIASEN, ALVO NSC FOR WATERS COMMERCE FOR 4520/ITA/ANESA/OBERG E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON EFIN EINV EG SUBJECT: IRAQI CENTRAL BANKERS RECEIVE TRAINING IN CAIRO ¶1. (U) During the week of July 15-20 the IMF is providing training to 25 officials from the Iraqi Central Bank at the offices of the Egyptian Banking Institute (EBI),the Central Bank of Egypt's primary banking training facility. The training is part of the IMF response to U.N. Security Council Resolution 1546 which asked that "international financial institutions strengthen their efforts to assist the people of Iraq in the reconstruction and development of the Iraqi economy, including by providing international experts" (article 20). The IMF teamed up with the U.S. Federal Reserve Board to present this workshop which focused on banking supervision issues. U.S. Treasury advisors also participated. Iraqi Central Bank Deputy Governor Ahmad Mohamad Al-Juboory was the senior-most Iraqi to attend. The IMF has organized two to three of these workshops per year since 2004, all of which have been outside Iraq; this is the first to be held in Cairo. Attendees and presenters noted that the session went well. We understand the next workshops are scheduled for November 2007 and spring 2008, with locations yet to be determined. ¶2. (U) Comment: The willingness of the GOE to host this training for Iraqi officials is an indication of Egypt's commitment to helping rebuild Iraq. The cooperative efforts of the U.S. Federal Reserve Board, the IMF and the GOE in providing this training could serve as a model for other cooperative efforts among international institutions and governments in addressing key issues in Iraq's recovery.