IOR/L/PS/12/3969

The file concerns proposals for the economic development of the Persian Gulf states that were under British supervision, particularly in terms of fisheries, agriculture, and water supply. The proposals are discussed in the light of expected increases in oil revenue in all the states, and the comparatively undeveloped nature of most of them.

The papers cover: the arrangements for a visit in January-February 1948 by Dr George Colin Lawder Bertram of St John's College, Cambridge to Muscat to prepare a report on fisheries development there on behalf of the Sultan of Muscat; correspondence concerning the disposal of the huge projected rise in oil revenues in Kuwait; the pressing need for an adequate water supply in Kuwait; 'Notes on a Visit to Kuwait in March 1947' by E W Noonan [attached to the British Middle East Office], (folios 127-128); a brief note on economic development in the Gulf States by Lieutenant-Colonel Sir William Rupert Hay, the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, dated 31 May 1947, covering Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the Trucial Coast, and Muscat (folios 120-122); the possibilities for sugar cane development in Dhofar, and the arrangements for an advisory visit there by Brian Joseph Hartley, Director of Agriculture, Aden; the possibilities for a shark fishing industry in Muscat; correspondence concerning a water scheme for Muscat (folios 73-76); and a letter from the Commonwealth Relations Office to the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf concerning the question of the participation of the Gulf states in a United Nations-proposed Economic Commission for the Middle East (folios 25-26).

The file includes correspondence from Dr George Colin Lawder Bertram.

The file includes a divider, which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.