ADVISORY BOARD ESTABLISHED TO MONITOR IRAQ DEVELOPMENT FUND TO MEET 5 DECEMBER

The following was issued by the Spokesman for Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Wednesday, 3 December:

The Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations, and the World Bank are pleased to announce that the first organizational meeting of the International Advisory and Monitoring Board (IAMB) of the Development Fund for Iraq is to take place on 5 December 2003.

To this effect, the following representatives of the heads of the member institutions of the IAMB have been named:

-- The International Monetary Fund:  Bert E. Keuppens, Senior Advisor, Finance Department;

-- The United Nations:  Jean-Pierre Halbwachs, Assistant Secretary General and Controller;

-- The World Bank:  Fayezul Choudhury, Vice-President and Controller.

-- The Representative of the Head of the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development is to be named shortly.

Each representative to IAMB will have a designated alternate representative.

The IAMB’s Terms of Reference were agreed upon on 21 October 2003 by the four institutions.

The purpose of the IAMB is to promote the objectives set forth in United NationsSecurity Council resolution 1483 (2003) of ensuring that the Development Fund for Iraq (DFI) is used in a transparent manner for the purposes set out in operative paragraph 14 of the United Nations resolution, and that export sales of petroleum, petroleum products and natural gas from Iraq are made consistent with prevailing international market best practices.

* *** *