10.2 |
Reconstruction: July 2004 to July 2009
863.
DFID continued
to support other initiatives that would promote growth
and
investment
in Basra, including Basra International Airport and leveraging in
Japanese
loans.
Officials were working closely with the Japanese Embassy in Baghdad
to help
progress
Japanese soft loans through a “complex” Iraqi Government approval
process.
Japan had
committed some US$2bn in soft loans to Iraq, of which US$1.2bn was
for
Basra-based
projects including US$254m for the rehabilitation of Umm Qasr
port.
Japan
pledged and disbursed more assistance for Iraq’s reconstruction
than any country
other than
the US.
Japan
pledged up to US$5bn at the Madrid Donors’ Conference on 24 October
2003,
consisting
of US$1.5bn in grants (increased to US$1.7bn by July 2009) for
power
generation,
education, water and sanitation, health and employment, and
Security Sector
Reform, and
up to US$3.5bn in concessional loans.502
By July
2009, Iraq and Japan had
signed
agreements for 12 loan projects worth up to US$2.43bn, of which
US$1.37bn was
for seven
projects in the South:
•
Umm Qasr Port
Rehabilitation Project. Up to US$270m to dredge shipping
lanes,
remove
wrecked ships, rehabilitate port facilities, and provide equipment
and
materials.
•
Samawah
Bridges and Roads Construction Project. Up to US$30m to build
and
rebuild
bridges across the Euphrates River and to build connecting roads in
the
vicinity of
Samawah, in Muthannna.
•
Irrigation
Sector Loan Programme. Up to US$90m for irrigation drainage
pumps,
equipment
and materials including in Muthanna.
•
Basra Refinery
Upgrading Project. Up to US$20m to increase capacity.
•
Khor al-Zubair
Fertiliser Plant Rehabilitation Project. Up to US$160m to
supply
machinery
for the Kohr Al-Zubair Fertiliser Plant in Basra.
•
Crude Oil
Export Facility Reconstruction Project. Up to US$430m for
the
construction
of an on-shore/off-shore pipeline to export oil and installation of
off-
shore
loading facilities in al-Faw, Basra.
•
Basra Water
Supply Improvement Project. Up to US$370m to improve the
water
supply
facilities in and around Basra City.
In November
2005, following the Paris Club agreement on debt relief, Japan
agreed to
reduce
Iraq’s official debt to it by 80 percent, with a value of
US$6.7bn.
From
February 2004 to July 2006, Japan maintained an Iraq Reconstruction
and
Support
Group, comprising some 600 troops, in Samawah.503
The Group
was mandated
to
deliver humanitarian and reconstruction assistance only;
Australian and UK forces
provided
protection.
502
Government
of Japan, Factsheet, August 2009, Japan’s
assistance to Iraq (Fact Sheet).
503
BBC
News, 8
February 2004, Japan
soldiers begin Iraq mission’;
BBC
News, 16 July
2006,
‘Japan
troops
withdraw from Iraq.
335