Ali Baban

Ali Ghalib Baban is the Iraqi Minister of Planning and Development Co-operation in the government of Nouri al-Maliki. A Sunni Kurd, he was elected to the National Assembly of Iraq in December 2005 on the Iraqi Accord Front coalition as a member of the Sunni Arab-majority Iraqi Islamic Party [ [http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/iraq/leaders/2006/0710members.htm Members of Iraq’s Government] , "Global Policy Forum", 2006-07-10 ] and led the negotiations with Maliki for the Iraqi Accord Front [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/18/world/middleeast/18iraq.html?ex=1305604800&en=71c328527a183653&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss Iraqis Expect to Finish List for Cabinet This Week] , "New York Times", 2006-05-17 ]

Before his election he was the editor of the weekly Arabic language newspaper of the Iraqi Islamic Party, "Dar al-Salam" [ [http://www.al-bab.com/arab/countries/iraq/press2003.htm THE NEW IRAQI PRESS - 2003] , "Yeman Gateway", 2003-07-31 ] He is of Kurdish origin. [ [http://middleeastreference.org.uk/iraqministers.html The interim government of Iraq from 2003-06] ]

When the Iraqi Accordance Front withdrew from the Iraqi government in August 2007, Baban stayed on as Planning Minister. He was expelled from the Front and the Iraqi Islamic Party. [ [http://www.kbsradio.ca/news/56/757890 Sunni bloc returns to Iraqi government after year-long boycott] , "Associated Press" via "KBC Radio", 2008-07-20, accessed on 2008-07-21]

Policies

Baban has made the following policy statements:

On privatisation:

:"Iraq won't rush into privatizing its industries ... the recent move of keeping the import door open without regulations and restrictions has put an end to many factories" [http://www.privatizationbarometer.net/news.php?id=9684&PHPSESSID=ebcf831e3e08f0c4a22e94684afc0d85 Iraq Won't Rush Into Industry Privatization - Devt Min] , "Privatization Barometer", 2006-10-31 ]

On private sector businesses:

:"Many of the private factories are still small and cannot do the required task ... we urge Iraqi businessmen to merge their companies and establish big ones ... it is [also] necessary to merge small Iraqi banks into big banks."

On inflation:

:"The inflation rate from July 2005 to July 2006 stood at 69.6 percent ... this indicates that inflation has not just increased, but it is out of control" [ [http://www.chinapost.com.tw/business/detail.asp?ID=89616&GRP=E Iraq's inflation rate hits 70%: minister] , "China Post", 2006-09-04 ]

On corruption:

:"Huge amounts of funds were wasted because of bureaucracy, corruption, incapacity and the spending of money on unimportant projects" [ [http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=14180 As U.S. effort winds down, can Iraq fill reconstruction gap?] , "CorpWatch", 2006-10-16 ] :"We are living in an atmosphere of chaos. Corruption has spread in the Iraqi state in an unprecedented manner" [http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=1550 Planning Minister Discusses Restructuring, Iraqi Debts] , "Iraq Directory", 2006-06-21 ]

On the information society:

:"We seek to promote the use of computers and other tools related to electronic knowledge ... and research and development in the information field. We want to catch up with the information revolution, which has swept up the world, and we want to create an information society"

On foreign aid:

:"As for loans and grants, I can say, quite frankly, that we have heard a great deal of talk, but received very little ... some of the money was spent abroad ... some of it was paid to foreign experts and consultants; some of it was spent on foreign services; and some of it was spent on areas that are not priorities" [http://www.ft.com/cms/s/34450016-f59e-11da-bcae-0000779e2340.html Donors accused of spending aid outside Iraq] , "Financial Times, 2006-06-06 ]

On subsidies:

:"I hope the IMF will take into consideration the situation in Iraq and not pressure us to ... cancel subsidies ... lifting these subsidies now would undermine confidence in the government"

On federalism and oil:

:"The federalist constitution that allocates oil resources to regional authorities will make foreign companies hesitate to invest a dollar in new Iraqi fields ... this might threaten the future of the Iraqi petroleum industry ... the constitution would have to be amended"

References