Experts agree on the need to root out corruption to attract investment



17/7/2017 12:00 am

Baghdad / Hussein Thagb / Shukran al-Fatlawi

In light of the trend of large-scale reconstruction in the liberated areas and other cities of Iraq require the need for a sound environment capable of attracting international investment and undermine corruption through the proposals of experts and ways to combat it as the focus of discussion of the symposium organized by the Center for International Projects in cooperation with the Institute of Economic Reform.

Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Institute d. "The country is required to return to its regional and international environment," he said, pointing out that Iraq is an important part of the world. , Pointing to the importance of studying the reasons for the presence of Iraqi businessmen abroad and work to create the working environment that attracts them.

National product

Either d. Zuhair al-Hassani presented a paper under the title (administrative and financial corruption in Iraq and ways to combat it) during which he stressed the importance of restoring the economic role in the domestic market with the support of the national product, which provides employment opportunities to accommodate the high rates of unemployment and the implementation of the four economic laws without delay or exceptions, The National Product Support Act, the Consumer Protection Act, the Competition Law, the Prevention of Monopoly and the establishment of the councils provided for in these laws to ensure their proper implementation.

He added that the reality requires the support of the private sector to provide banking facilities and extinguish debts and fines and taxes in order to restore confidence in the business environment and the operation of suspended plants and encourage the return of Iraqi capital to the homeland and the rehabilitation of public companies in the company between the public and private sectors and the fastest legislation of the company's law currently before the Council And the establishment of a partnership council headed by the Prime Minister to oversee the good management of this partnership in accordance with quality standards and government.

He pointed out the importance of qualifying the central markets in partnership with the private sector to support the daily needs of people with limited income exclusively to replace the ration card, which was corrupted by corruption and commissions and waste in public money, and to prevent the sale of subcontracting government contracts, which provides a fertile environment for corruption.

Development projects

He called for preparing feasibility studies for development projects and estimating the real cost of guessing, not phantom, and referring them to solid companies to provide the ability to accomplish them and prevent their failure or delay as is happening now.

Encouraging investment by improving the business environment by providing land for investment projects and infrastructure and implementing the single window directly through the committees.

On the side of administrative reforms, he may need to accelerate the implementation of e-government, using a firm to eliminate the electronic rings and to achieve transparency and public opinion to achieve community control of the government administration to reduce corruption.

It is also necessary to establish a higher council for reconstruction under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister as a supreme body for project management and governance of tenders and contracts and contracting with the companies prudent and to oversee the implementation of projects and control implementation to eliminate the most important source of corruption in Iraq, indicating the importance of stopping waste in public funds through the preparation of program budget development by the limit Of the imaginary costs of the projects and the operational budget and the preparation of these projects in the light of the feasibility study according to the development plan and provide sources outside the oil revenues, as well as the organization of tax accounting and combating tax smuggling and the collection of customs duties and services fees T provided by the public sector without exceptions.

Support the private sector by providing social security to the private sector workers, providing employment, unemployment, disguised unemployment and strict control over border ports and its courts to prevent commercial fraud, smuggling, commissions, bribes, terrorism financing and the implementation of the customs clearance system to eliminate corruption. It is necessary to expedite the submission of the final accounts of the annual budget to be audited and presented to the House of Representatives knowledge of inputs and outputs and combating corruption in them.

Modified Code

Al-Hassani called for speeding up the amendment of the Penal Code to transfer money laundering offenses from misdemeanors to crimes to deter organized crime across borders and to achieve international cooperation to combat corruption and money-laundering crimes under the 2003 UN Convention against Corruption, in particular the seizure, confiscation and recovery of illegal funds, States concerned to achieve So.

The banking and monetary reforms require the amendment of articles 27 and 28 of the Banking Law of 2004 to enable private banks to invest and participate in economic development, and tighten the supervision of the Central Bank on private banks and apply the rules of Basel for the year 1988 to prevent the smuggling and money laundering and speculation in the currency on the black market and work to repair banks languishing By compulsory or optional merger in accordance with Article 148 of the Companies Law No. 22 of 1997 and standardization of the dinar exchange rate to eliminate the black market, which is one of the most important sources of corruption and organized crime, especially smuggling and money laundering.


Holding a conference

The Deputy Chairman of the Baghdad Economic Forum in the name of Antoine stressed that the coming period will witness a large movement of reconstruction and the international community will be a party after the government action and conferences that are organized outside Iraq, and the State of Kuwait called for a conference to support Iraq and reconstruction of liberated areas, especially Mosul, Uprooting corruption.

He pointed out that these seminars will have a positive role in the ability to corruption after standing in the effects of the overall economic process, where we prove that there are great efforts to follow up corruption And undermine it.

The representative of Iraq in the Center for International Private Projects Mona Zalzalah said: The Center adopted four policy papers to discuss four main topics resulted from agendas that included the provinces and the gap in the application and fight corruption and bureaucracy as well as weak strategic planning
In Iraq.

She pointed out that the center contracted with the Iraqi Institute for Economic Reform to complete these four policies, and today is discussing the paper administrative and financial corruption in Iraq and ways Fight it.

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