DEMARCHE DELIVERED: GCC ASSISTANCE FOR THE

UNCLAS KUWAIT 000258 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/ARP, NEA/IPA, NEA/RA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EFIN PGOV EAID PTER PHUM KPAL KWBG KU SUBJECT: DEMARCHE DELIVERED: GCC ASSISTANCE FOR THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY REF: A. SECSTATE 23135 ¶B. KUWAIT 230 ¶1. (SBU) Econoff delivered reftel points to Marwan Al-Ghanim, Regional Manager for Arab Countries at the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development on March 17. Ghanim confirmed the Kuwait Fund had been designated by Amiri decree as the lead agency for distribution of GoK aid to Gaza. He said that Kuwait intends to distribute its aid to Gaza through three mechanisms: the newly identified GCC fund for Gaza, the World Bank Palestinian Reform and Development Plan Trust Fund and the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (ref b). ¶2. (SBU) He said the GCC fund had not yet established procedures for identifying and approving projects, but that he anticipated these matters would be discussed at a GCC meeting in Riyadh on March 22. He opined that projects would likely be submitted by Palestinian officials to the board of the GCC fund which would then review and determine which projects would be funded. ¶3. (SBU) Regarding publicly aired concerns about the high overhead costs of the World Bank Trust Fund, Ghanim said that previously costs had been very high, but that he understood that the costs now had been reduced to under 2% of the contribution. ********************************************* ********* For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit: visit Kuwait's Classified Website at: http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Kuwa it ********************************************* ********* O'DONOHUE