International reports on foreign investment opportunities in Iraq long-term and potential


2017/11/02 (00:01 PM) - Number of readings: 579 -



Baghdad / Zahraa al-Jassim  Translation / Hamid Ahmed

Iraq is seeking to achieve a developmental and investment boom after a humiliating defeat, according to a recent US State Department report. He also stressed that foreign investment opportunities in Iraq are long-term and potential "because the country has huge oil resources with huge reconstruction projects."

Economist ruled out that Iraq will witness progress in economic development in the post-urging period unless there is a new executive management of the file of the economy, and that all financial grants and studies of the Iraqi economic reality will change nothing, with the improvement of the business environment.

International reports have reported that Iraq is seeking to find a foothold in the path of economic development and investment after a defeat is encouraging, as some investors see opportunities in Iraq, because of the country's opportunities to encourage them and encouraging the country's budget financing agreement of $ 5.4 billion, Approved by the International Monetary Fund last year and the US gave Iraq a $ 1 billion loan, some investors say that Iraq is on a solid ground of opportunity to become a point of attraction for major investors in the world, although some challenges remain.

Amer al-Jawahri, an economist, doubts in an interview the extent of the ability to make progress in the economic development of the country.

"Unless we find progress and progress in domestic investment, all these studies, expectations and grants will not work, and nothing will change the reality of the Iraqi economy, "There is no new executive management of the economic file, and should not remain in the hands of the government only, but should be the hand of the private sector and civil society institutions."

He said that the foreign investor will not work in Iraq if he does not find or see a development in domestic investment, This is what attracts investment, so we need to take care Domestic investors first, because their work is from sending reassuring messages to the foreign investor because he looks and watches.

Al-Jawahiri stressed the necessity of forming an expanded economic council that includes government institutions, civil society and the private sector. This council will set economic policy and set priorities.

It will also plan and follow up its implementation. On the other hand, when the international community knows that Iraq will invest heavily, , But the speech does not mean anything unless the people of Iraq and its administration able to manage this file seriously again.

The investment environment in Iraq is very long, and the business environment in Iraq is very backward, and here we need to strive to change this reality, because the problem we have now in practice, and here There should be an executive committee linked to the Supreme Investment Committee and it is the one who will improve the business and investment environment.

"The global support for a unified Iraq, which is almost collective, must be translated into financial support for its reconstruction projects and to reinforce the promises made in the past," said Ahmad al-Tabakli, director of the Asia-based investment fund in Iraq. In order to strengthen the economic situation in the country to prevent any chance of the emergence of extremism and tension in the country again, and following the military victories in Iraq, the reconstruction of infrastructure and the promotion of another coming from oil will help to give momentum to the recovery of the economy, despite the obstacles accumulated at the current time .

"While the successful campaign against Da'ash has certainly been a big positive point, we do not believe that the victory achieved in Raqqa is a major change," said Raufael Obarti, a researcher at the UK's BMI Research Center for Financial and Economic Research and Analysis for the Middle East and North Africa. In the game for Iraq, adding: This may indicate the achievement of a contraction of security risks in the region, but the organization will continue to cause threats to security through bombing attacks, and Iraq is still facing several security challenges, noting that, nevertheless, the signs of Has been on the horizon, especially in the oil sector of the country, so the return of oil prices to rise, is a positive for the Iraqi economy, as the government of the country depends on its revenues rely heavily on oil exports.

"This is why we see this as a positive thing for any investor, but it takes a lot to see the seed of Sabla investing in the non-oil sectors, as the country lacks the state of economic diversification as a source of its financial returns.

According to the analyst, the gravity of the political side inside Iraq has been and remains the biggest obstacle to investment opportunities, and even if Iraqi security forces continue to work to get out of the armed militants from the country, multiple political challenges still exist.

While Britain's BMI is expected to see an improvement in economic growth outside the oil sector, the firm also expects this improvement "to remain modest over the coming years, which is why it will restrict a certain investment to investors." Confirming that the private sector in Iraq has occupied the lowest rank in the index of transparency and corruption standards.

Iraq is also preoccupied with ethnic and ethnic tensions, as evidenced by the independence referendum for the Kurdistan region. These problems, coupled with social instability, mean that we may witness the re-emergence of a series of violence across the country. However, the investment situation in Iraq may Has improved slightly over the past year amid high oil prices and the lifeline of the International Monetary Fund's IMF country. Iraq is the second largest producer of oil within the members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, which pumps daily 4 million barrels per day.

The reports confirm that with the great military victory that took place earlier this month against a supporter in his recent stronghold in the city of Raqqa in Syria, many market watchers are not convinced that this will be a good outcome for Iraq or any other besieged country in the Middle East.

On the other hand, Fitch revised the US International Rating Rating rating the state of Iraq's economy in March from negative to stable, enabling the government to keep up with global financial markets in August.

Director of the International Finance Institute for the Middle East and North Africa Economist Jarbis Aradian says that despite political tensions in Iraq now with the region, its negative consequences for the economy will be limited, especially with a daunting defeat in the country.

"The motives of the end of the war with its support and defeat in the country will bring a huge amount of foreign investment to the energy sector in Iraq, and all sectors of the Iraqi economy, including the energy, mining and financial sectors, are expected to benefit," Aradian said.
The World Bank on Tuesday approved $ 400 million in financial aid to help rebuild Iraq after many cities were liberated from Da'ash's control.

The World Bank said in a statement that the aid package aims to "support the recovery, reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts of priority infrastructure facilities to restore the provision of public services in newly liberated Iraqi areas from the grip of a supportive organization, In Iraq estimated at $ 350 million, approved in July 2015 and being implemented in seven cities in Diyala and Salahuddin provinces.

Water and sanitation, electricity, health, transport and municipal services. The additional funding will continue to meet the urgent needs of local communities in the liberated areas of education, agriculture and urban services. Additional funding is also aimed at supporting the Iraqi government in attracting Private sector to participate in reconstruction efforts.

And back to the economist Amer Jawahri, where he says: We even to talk about the stage of urging, we must focus on the continuation of the development process in Iraq, on the other hand, the amount of the World Bank, whether grant or loan, is the implementation of the issue of reconstruction, Time of the $ 400 million provided by the World Bank, and here we also stress the need to change the management of the economic file, if this administration continued with the existence of a new file includes the development and investment-oriented, we can not progress because we need a new way to manage the economic file proved Their failure, and here the development must be pal All acts of worship, concluding his say: But if the economy continues to file this approach and this administration, we can not do any thing in this area.

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