IIER HOLDS CONFERENCE ON TRANSPARENCY AND ECONOMIC LAWS

UNCLAS BAGHDAD 002675 SENSITIVE SIPDIS C O R R E C T E D COPY CAPTION STATE FOR NEA/I/ECON E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON EAID KCOR IZ SUBJECT: IIER HOLDS CONFERENCE ON TRANSPARENCY AND ECONOMIC LAWS REF: Baghdad 2346 ¶1. (U) SUMMARY. The Iraqi Institute for Economic Reform (IIER) held a successful conference entitled "The Absence of Economic Legislation and Transparency in Iraq" October 3. The conference was financed under a $1.5 million USG-Targeted Development Grant (TDG). About 70 people attended, including Embassy Anti-Corruption Coordinator Ambassador Joseph Stafford, members of the Council of Representatives (COR),the Acting Minister of Trade, and several CEOs of Iraqi companies. As evidenced by this event, IIER's Baghdad-based office now has the capacity to work more independently from its London-based exile leadership. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (U) The discussion at IIER's October 3 conference on transparency and economic laws was lively. Anti-Corruption Coordinator Ambassador Joseph Stafford noted the progress the GOI has made in fighting corruption and reiterated the USG commitment to assist. Acting Minister of Trade Dr. Safaa al-Safee said the COR should question Ministers more about their Ministries' expenditures and hold them accountable for any corrupt activities. A few members of the COR said the budget process should be more closely related to strategic plans of the various Ministries and suggested that the budget document include more information about individual line items. They also said the Board of Supreme Audits' reports should be taken more seriously and that punitive action should be imposed against corrupt officials. Other GOI officials criticized Iraq's water management and suggested ways to improve public access to information on key government programs, either through media or websites. ¶3. (U) A few Iraqi businessmen said better transparency would improve Iraq's investment climate. Iraqi Energy Think Tank Director Luaye Khatib said that if better laws existed to protect investors, the private sector could do a better job of diversifying the Iraqi economy away from oil. Basam Antoine, Board Member of the Iraq Federation of Industries, said government officials need to be more in touch with the daily lives of ordinary Iraqis and should publish a strategic budget that everyone could understand. He said the Ministers in general are not qualified for their positions, and should use their advisors more to help make the best decisions. He suggested that some Ministries merge to streamline the GOI, e.g., the Oil and Electricity Ministries should become an Energy Ministry. The private sector representatives also discussed the lack of effectiveness of the Integrity Commission and how politics interferes with their performance. COMMENT ¶4. (SBU) This successful conference is an example of how our $1.5 million TDG support to IIER is paying off. Last year, the Baghdad-based IIER office would likely have been unable to organize a high-level event without substantial guidance from the London-based trustees. IIER's Baghdad-based Administrator and full-time Secretariat organized this conference with little oversight from London, and clearly have the capacity to stimulate discussion between the public and private sectors. After several more USG funded-conferences in the coming year, IIER should have regained its status as the premier Iraqi NGO fostering and influencing national economic policy debates. HILL