Oral question asked in the House of Commons, by Linda Gilroy (Labour). It was answered on Monday, 3 December 2007 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Iraq

Question: I thank the Secretary of State for his comments about the Defence Committee's report. We look forward to receiving his reply. With the space that has been created by our troops for the Iraqis to take increasing responsibility for themselves, what is happening about the economic initiatives planned for Basra province, which the Prime Minister told the House about on 8 October?

Answer: I thank my hon. Friend for that question. I am, however, Secretary of State for Defence, not for development, and I do not want to anticipate announcements that will be made after the time when there is provincial Iraqi control. That will be the appropriate time to make those announcements, because that is when those complementary economic initiatives can be launched. It is no secret that the Government intend to support an economic initiative that is based on Basra, in particular, and is designed to exploit the resources of the Iraqi Government, who have sufficient resources from their oil revenues to be able to invest there. Apart from that, support is available from other countries in the international community to make the best of the oil exploration opportunities, especially given that Basra is a very important city for Iraq because of the port at Umm Qasr and Basra airport, which has been subject to significant development and is now increasingly handling commercial traffic. Such opportunities will be taken forward with the staff of the construction agencies, some of whom are volunteers from the international business community.

Secondary information

Type: Oral question
Reference: 468 c556
Session: 2007-08
Oral question type: Supplementary
Chamber / Committee: House of Commons chamber
Subjects: Iraq Oil Peacekeeping operations Politics and government Basra Armed forces Staff
Link: View this Oral question on www.publications.parliament.uk