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Coll 54/1(S) 'Middle East (Official) Committee: Reconstruction' [‎273r] (549/940)

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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. .

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- 1 -
SYRIA
INTRODUCTION
Tb.e natural resources of Syria are such that agriculture
is and will continue to be the basis of her economy. A
prosperous and progressive agriculture must therefore be the
cardinal aim of any plan for Syria’s economic development.
Agriculture provides a livelihood for two thirds of the
population. It produces the basic raw materials for Syria's
industries. Its products form the major part of Syria's
export trade and provide the foods that maintain the health
and well-being of the people.
Syria's water resources represent an untapped source
of wealth which, if turned to account, could play a very big
part in the economic prosperity of the country. In the
Jezira, lying in the North-East between the Euphrates and the
Turkish and Iraqi frontiers, Syria possesses an area of out
standing development possibilities, both for rain-fed and
irrigated agriculture, ranking with the Gedaref district of
the Sudan, the Tigris and Euphrates Valleys in Iraq, and the
Karun in Khuzistan.
The total cultivable lands of Syria would however
require for their exploitation a rural population of nearly
5 millions, or more than double the present agricultural
population. There is therefore in Syria as a whole, and
in the Jezira in particular, a unique opportunity for
settlement and development. Meanwhile, within her borders
and in nearby countries, some hundreds of thousands of
workless and landless Palestinian Arab refugees are herded
in camps, subsisting on relief, to which the United Kingdom
and the United States Governments have been the principal
contributors. Substantial outside assistance will be
required for any large-scale scheme for the resettlement of
/
/the

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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
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Coll 54/1(S) 'Middle East (Official) Committee: Reconstruction' [‎273r] (549/940), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/4756, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100043455636.0x000096> [accessed 13 May 2024]

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