The head of Iraq’s National Investment Authority Sami al-Araji said on Sunday that the volume of foreign and domestic investments in Iraq exceeded 93 billion dollars in the past seven years, distributed to various economic sectors.
“The investment sector in Iraq has witnessed remarkable progress in recent years, given the aspiration of most Arab and foreign countries to enter the promising Iraqi market, which is currently ranked among the most active markets in the world,” Araji said in an interview with Al Hayat newspaper.
He added that “since the enactment of the Investment Law No. 13 of 2006, there were investment activities, but it was slow, while we have seen after 2010, a real breakthrough, especially after the first amendment and the second, which came in 2015.
He pointed out that “the number of projects exceeded 1400 projects and included the sectors of housing, tourism, industry and agriculture, while the investment map for this year more than a thousand projects, distributed to all provinces without exception and the various economic sectors,” indicating “an increase in the demand for the establishment of industrial plants and cities, Which will reflect positively on the economic advancement in terms of reducing the volume of imports and employment opportunities.
The Araji revealed, “a five-year plan approved by the National Central Investment Commission, chaired by Prime Minister Haider Abadi, and the membership of all ministries,” adding that “the formation of the Commission shows the new government’s direction to focus on investment sectors, and accelerate its steps, which faced many obstacles due to bureaucracy, Granting powers to representatives of ministries in the same window, which means shortening many episodes in the transfer of the project and ownership of land and others.
He explained that “the five-year plan (2018-2022) is linked to accelerating the volume of investment, especially after the elimination of terrorism, and the lack of government funding.”
“The focus on investment projects aims to restore life to liberated cities and the rest of Iraq, which is also experiencing a lack of services and recreational facilities and productive projects.”