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Coll 54/1(S) 'Middle East (Official) Committee: Reconstruction' [126v] (256/940)
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.
small area conceded to a British company, the oil concessions
are held by an international undertaking comprising British,
American, French and Dutch interests. The concession for 0 ^
Qatar, which is still in the early stages of development, io
held by the same combine. The oilfields in Sgypt are being
developed by British and American companies.
The development of oil resources by British and United
States companies has had a significant effect on the economies
of the countries concerned. In most of the states the rentals,
royalties and other payments provide the largest item of the
governmental revenues. In 1948 no less than £24.9 millions
were paid in royalties to these Governments and with negotiations
in progress for raising royalty rates in Iran and Iraq, it is
certain that royalty receipts will rise very rapidly. Even if
royalty rates remained the same, Middle East governments v/ould
be drawing £62.4 millions from the oil companies in 1956. Local
expenditure other then royalties is expected to amount to £ 69.2
millions in 1949* The element of current expenditure in'this
total may be assumed to rise at approximately the same rate as
royalty payments. The element of capital expenditure may,
however, be expected to fall, since the majority of projects
now in hand are expected to be completed with the next three to
four years.
6 . Oil and the Oil Companies have thus become dominating
factors in the political and economic lives of Persia, Iraq,
Saudi Arabia and the Trucial Sheikdoms and are of no mean
significance in the oth'-r Middle East States. In the further
expansion, on the scale at present envisaged, the main features
are thus likely to be:-
( 1 ) the increasing’wealth which will accrue to the
Middle Eastern States and the use to v/hichthis will
be put;
( 2 ) the stimulating influence which, by example and
direct effect, rapid development of the oilfields v.ill
have upon the economic and social progress of the
Middle East countries;
(3) the economic interest of the United States and,
the Western European and Co.-i. .onwealth countries, in
Middle East oil developments;
(4) the growing awareness of the oil-producing Middle
East States of the position which this development of
their oil resources is creating for them in World
affiars. To fulfil this position and adequately to
guide the accompanying internal developments into
profitable, channels and to maintain satisfactory
relations with the oil companies (for which there can
be no substitutes at this stage), are bound to impose
a considerable strain upon the present inadequate
school of local statesmanship.
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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Coll 54/1(S) 'Middle East (Official) Committee: Reconstruction' [126v] (256/940), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/4756, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100043455635.0x000039> [accessed 26 April 2024]
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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
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 2r:42r, 43r:116v, 120r:259v, 261r:294v, 296r:436v, 442r:468v
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence