ECONOMIC GOVERNANCE
MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS TO DATE
Developed WTO Accession Roadmap in cooperation with Iraqi officials.
Provided technical assistance as well as information on contracting opportunities for Iraqi businesses and entrepreneurs through business centers.
Worked with the Ministry of Finance to introduce the new Iraqi dinar.
Created more than 77,000 public works jobs through the National Employment Program.
Provided technical assistance on accounting, budgeting and lending activities at Iraq's commercial banks. Trained 116 bankers from the Rafidain and Rasheed banks in six training courses.
Assisted in management of $21 million micro-credit program.
Improved statistical analysis, monetary policymaking, and bank supervision procedures at Iraq's Central Bank; offered a two-week banking course to Central Bank staff with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Evaluated and updated commercial laws on private sector and foreign investment.
Assisted in developing the 5 percent reconstruction levy on imports; built capacity of customs officials to implement levy.
Developed a government-wide IT strategy to support the automation of planning, budgeting and reporting processes across ministries.
Provided technical support for the re-opening of the Iraq Stock Exchange after it was closed down for more than 15 months; 3.6 billion Iraqi dinars ($2.4 million USD) in shares were traded in the first day.
USAID works with Iraqi institutions to establish an environment for sustainable economic growth. Assistance empowers policy makers to formulate and execute decisions based on economic data, and to implement modern best prac- tices in economic governance. USAID projects provide a framework for private sector trade, commerce, and investment throughout Iraq.
HIGHLIGHTS THIS WEEK
USAID recently conducted a customs workshop for the Iraqi business community. More than 65 members of Iraqi business associations, consumer organizations, and women's business groups attended the customs, tariff and trade workshop in Baghdad to learn about the modern role of the Customs Department in facilitating trade and law enforcement. The event was conducted as part of a series of workshops organized to increase awareness in the business community about the changes that will need to occur as part of Iraq's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). Based in Geneva, Switzerland, the WTO is the only global organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations. It consists of 148 member nations, including Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates. Accession into the WTO would increase Iraq's foreign direct investment and lay the foundation for a globalized economy. Although actual accession may take years, the economic reforms that Iraq will implement to be eligible for membership promote economic freedom and growth which will stabilize the country's economy.
Trade experts from USAID's IZDIHAR project recently led a three-day training seminar in Baghdad on the specialized topic of Trade in Services for 27 Iraqi government officials. The seminar, which detailed how Iraq will need to make commitments to the General Agreement on Trade in Service (GATS) in order to join the WTO, was hosted by the Ministry of Trade and attended by officials from other Iraqi ministries, including Labor, Finance, Higher Education, Health, Municipalities, Justice, and the Central Bank. Officials concerned about allowing foreign professionals to practice in Iraq were reassured to learn during the seminar that they could protect sectors of the economy through procedures for licensing, practicing, taxation and deciding eligibility for benefits. Iraq will need to explicitly address these details in order to negotiate with the WTO and bi-lateral partners. Participants were already working on related labor, unemployment, and economic development issues in their respective ministries.
The Trade in Services specialist seminar was conducted as part of a series of workshops and seminars aimed at helping the Government of Iraq take the many steps necessary to modernize its trade policy and seek accession to the WTO.
AGRICULTURE
MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS TO DATE
Summer and Winter Crop Technology Demonstrations: These demonstrations are introducing farmers to new technologies and techniques through extension field days.
Animal Health: Several veterinary clinics in Kirkuk, Fallujah, and other cities are being renovated and a grant has been made for dipping tanks to improve sheep health and wool.
Technology Support: The Ministry of Agriculture and a major university's schools of Agriculture and Veterinary Science have been awarded grants to furnish and equip computer centers, improving research capabilities and consulting capacity.
Date Palm Propagation: In collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, 40,000 elite date palm offshoots are being used to establish mother orchards in 13 governorates as part of a multiplication program and the establishment of a national register of elite varieties.
Agriculture Sector Transition Plan: This plan, completed in April 2004, addresses the short-term recovery of agricultural infrastructure as well as medium- and long-term implementation of policies to develop a market-based agricultural economy.
USAID's goals are to work in conjunction with Iraqi ministries, the private sector, and higher education institutions to revitalize agricultural production, stimulate income and employment generation, nurture rural initiatives, and rehabilitate the natural resource base.
HIGHLIGHTS THIS WEEK
Fourteen officials from the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) began training this week on the installation and operation of sprinkler systems. During the workshop, which was supported by USAID's Agriculture Reconstruction and Development for Iraq (ARDI) program, the officials learned to calculate water requirements, and plan the layout of -- and install -- a sprinkler system. This training is the first in a series to train 48 MOA officials to operate and maintain a variety of irrigation systems, including drip irrigation. When the officials have completed training with ARDI, they will install irrigation equipment in similar demonstration areas in their governorates. Many farmers depend on irrigation for agricultural production, particularly those in the arid regions of southern Iraq, as well as those who grow high-cash value crops throughout the country. These highly efficient irrigation systems will help increase the amount of land farmers are able to fully irrigate and will increase their agricultural production and income.
USAID trained 183 Iraqis in beekeeping basics in an effort to help vulnerable groups gain a sustainable income. Participants included 44 widows, 79 poor farmers, and 41 people with disabilities. The relatively inexpensive costs of maintaining an apiary and the sustainable income produced from its products makes beekeeping an ideal income generator for populations with few options. The grant will also provide the necessary equipment to establish apiaries. Bee experts from the Ministry of Agriculture led the training courses in Sulaymaniyah, Kirkuk and Diyala simultaneously. The experts will continue to visit the beekeepers to monitor their progress as well as to hold field days every other month to give the beekeepers a chance to discuss problems and learn more about recommended beekeeping practices. To support Iraq's entire beekeeping sector, USAID agricultural programs have also rehabilitated the Ministry of Agriculture's Beekeeping Library and Research Extension Center in Baghdad, and constructed a beekeeper training school in Sulaymaniyah.
ARDI is providing NGOs with training in facilitation, or guiding participatory decision making, in order to improve their capacity to solve problems and reach agreement through building consensus. The trained facilitators in these NGOs will also work with ARDI to provide training to government and private sector organizations. Last week, ARDI led the second of two workshops designed to teach facilitation skills. ARDI staff and representatives of ARDI's partner NGOs attended the course.
During the first workshop 11 participants learned basic facilitation skills. Nine of the participants attended the second workshop, which covered the role of the facilitator and introduced tools to encourage dialogue and consensus. The participants also learned how a facilitator should interact with a client, including how to identify a client's needs and plan an agenda. The new facilitators will be prepared to contribute to ARDI's Private Sector Development projects, including assisting in the formation of farmer cooperatives and associations, and providing training in business management and other necessary skills.
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