![Coll 54/1(S) 'Middle East (Official) Committee: Reconstruction' [‎119r] (241/940)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000691.0x0001db/IOR_L_PS_12_4756_0241.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "Coll 54/1(S) 'Middle East (Official) Committee: Reconstruction' [‎119r] (241/940)")
Coll 54/1(S) 'Middle East (Official) Committee: Reconstruction' [119r] (241/940)
The record is made up of 1 file (468 folios). It was created in 20 Mar 1949-13 Dec 1949. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
f
v/ill have to "be employed if the investment from this country
is to reach proportions sufficient to carry out the objectives
. ;<?£-. our program.
All countries concerned with the program should work
..'together to bring about conditions favorable to the flow of
private capital. To this end we are negotiating agreements
with other countries to protect the American investor from
unwarranted or discriminatory treatment under the laws of
the country in which he makes his investment.
In negotiating such treaties we do not, of course, ask
privileges fox* American capital greater than those granted
to other investors :in underdeveloped countries or greater than
we ourselves grant in this country. -We believe that American
enterprise should no.t waste local resources, should provide
adequate v/ages and working conditions for local labor, and
should bear an equitable share:of the burden of local taxes*
At the. same time we believe that investors will send their
capital abroad on an increasing scale only if they are
given assurance against risk of loss through expropriation
'Without, compensation, unfair, or discriminatory treatment,
destruction through war or rebellion, or the inability
to convert their earnings!into dollars.
Although our investment treaties will be directed at
mitigating such risks,.they cannot eliminate them entirely^
With the best will in the world a foreign country,
particularly an underdeveloped.country, may not be able to
obtain the dollar exchange necessary for the prompt
remittance of earnings on dollar capital. Damage or loss
resulting from internal and international violence may be
beyond the power of our treaty signatories to control.
Many of these conditions of-instability in underdeveloped
areas v/hich deter foreign investment are themselves a
consequence of the lack of economic development v/hich only
foreign investment can cure* Therefore * to wait until stable
conditions are assured before encouraging the- outflow of
capital to underdeveloped, areas would defer the attainment
of our objectives indefinitely. It is necessary to take
vigorous action now to break out of this vicious circle.
Since the development of underdeveloped economic areas
is of major importance in cur foreign policy,, it is
appropriate to use the resources of the Government to
accelerate private efforts toward that end. I recommend,
therefore, that the Export-Import Bank be authorised to
guarantee United States private capital, invested in
productive enterprises abroad which contribute to economic
development in underdeveloped areas, against the risks
peculiar to those investments.
This guaranty activity will at the outset be largely
experimental. Some investments may require only a guaranty
against the danger of inconvertibility, others may need
protection against the danger of expatriation and other
dangers as well. It is impossible at this time to write
a standard guaranty. The bank will, of course, be able
to require the payment of premiums for such protection, but
there is no way now to determine what premium rates v/ill be
/ most
About this item
- Content
The file contains papers relating to the Middle East (Official) Committee. It consists of: papers circulated to members of the Committee, received by the External Department of the Commonwealth Relations Office (CRO); a few items of CRO correspondence with the Foreign Office, the Cabinet Office, and Commonwealth governments; and a register of papers received or sent by the CRO relating to the Committee, with internal CRO correspondence (at the back of the file).
The file includes agendas for meetings of the Committee, and minutes of the meetings on 28 April, 5 May, 5 July and 19 July 1949. Matters discussed and recorded in the minutes include: the reconstitution of the Committee; the re-settlement of Arab refugees from Palestine; the report on Economic and Social Development in the Middle East by the Working Party of the Committee; the future work of the Committee; the Conference of HM Representatives in the Middle East to be held in London from 26 to 29 July 1949; United States President Truman’s ‘Fourth Point’ (Truman’s message of 24 June 1949 to the United States House of Representatives, communicating a ‘Recommendation for the Enactment of Legislation to Authorise an Expanded Programme of Technical Assistance for Underdeveloped Areas of the World’); and further studies of the Working Party.
The file also includes the following papers prepared by (or approved by) the Working Party of the Committee: draft, revised and interim versions of the report on Economic and Social Development in the Middle East; papers relating to the economic and social development of Iraq, Syria, Greater Transjordan Used in three contexts: the geographical region to the east of the River Jordan (literally ‘across the River Jordan’); a British protectorate (1921-46); an independent political entity (1946-49) now known as Jordan , Egypt, the Lebannon, Saudi Arabia, Cyrenaica, Tripolitania, Eritrea and Somalia, and the Colony of Aden and the Aden Protectorate; and a paper on Middle East oil.
In addition, the file includes other papers relating to matters discussed at the meetings, and the following subjects: Transjordan Used in three contexts: the geographical region to the east of the River Jordan (literally ‘across the River Jordan’); a British protectorate (1921-46); an independent political entity (1946-49) now known as Jordan ; irrigation development in Iraq; Persia’s [Iran’s] Seven Year Plan for development; informal conversations on social and economic affairs in the Middle East between representatives of the Foreign Office, the Treasury, the British Embassy in Washington, and the United States State Department; the work of the Development Division of British Middle East Office; a survey of the oil resources of the Middle East; and economic development in Cyprus in relation to the Middle East.
- Extent and format
- 1 file (468 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in approximate reverse chronological order from the front to the rear of the file.
Numbers in red pen on the top right hand corner of items in the file refer to entries in the register of papers received and sent by the Commonwealth Relations Office at the back of the file.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 468; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio.
A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/12/4756
- Title
- Coll 54/1(S) 'Middle East (Official) Committee: Reconstruction'
- Pages
- 117r:119v
- Author
- Truman, Harry S
- Usage terms
- Public Domain