Iraq will need about $50 billion in foreign aid for reconstruction in the four years to the end of 2007, the planning minister in Iraq's US-appointed Governing Council said yesterday.
The top priorities are electricity, water, education and health, Mehdi Hafedh told a news conference. "We are actually planning for something in the range of $50 billion," he said.
Mr Hafedh is on a European tour ahead of an international donor conference in Madrid on October 23-24 which will try to raise money for the reconstruction of Iraq, battered by more than two decades of wars and sanctions.
"We are optimistic that a number of donors are ready to contribute," Mr Hafedh said, mentioning pledges from the European Union and Japan. The EU has promised an initial €200 million ($234 million) with more in the pipeline and Japan is expected to contribute $4-5 billion overall.
"We are still at the beginning and I think that there will be some more pledges in the near future," he said.
The World Bank, United Nations and International Monetary Fund have estimated jointly that $35.6 billion will be needed over the next four years to reactivate the Iraqi economy.
This is on top of $20 billion pledged by the United States over the next 18 months for rebuilding under the US-led body now governing Iraq, the Coalition Provisional Authority.
The three international organisations and leading donor nations agreed last week to set up a trust fund outside Washington's direct control to administer the cash they raise, so that donors can support specific sectors and institutions.
Mr Hafedh has already visited Madrid, Amsterdam, the Hague and London, and goes on to Oslo and Copenhagen. The Scandinavian countries and the Netherlands are among the world's biggest foreign aid donors in per capita terms.
Mr Hafedh agreed with Washington's UN ambassador John Negroponte that it was important for the Security Council to adopt a new Iraq resolution before the Madrid donor conference.
"The conference will take place with or without the resolution. But we would like the resolution to be out before the conference... it is very important in order to defuse any misunderstanding or differences of opinion," he said.
The UN resolution is intended to spell out how Iraq is to be governed in the future. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has ruled out any political role for the United Nations as long as Iraq remains under occupation.
This has frustrated US efforts to win a bigger UN role in reconstruction work, which could encourage governments that opposed the US decision to invade Iraq without UN approval to send aid and peacekeeping troops.
Mr Hafedh said recurring media reports about security problems in Iraq, mainly attacks on US troops, exaggerated what he said was a problem confined to one particular area north of Baghdad.
The Institute of International Finance, representing 330 leading commercial banks, said in a recent report that private companies would be reluctant to invest in Iraq until a stable government had been formed.
The international organisations' $35.6 billion estimate of reconstruction costs includes $24.2 billion for infrastructure, $7.2 billion for education, health and jobs, and $3 billion for agriculture.
The $20 billion from Washington includes $5 billion for security and police, $8 billion for rebuilding the oil industry and $3.5 billion for the environment.
US President George W.Bush has sent a bill to Congress seeking approval for $87 billion in spending on Iraq and Afghanistan, made up of $67 billion for the US military plus the $20 billion for reconstruction in Iraq.