Iraq's investors are seeking to buy other nationalities to facilitate their trade

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - At least 200 prominent businessmen have received nationalities over the past two years to ease their movement and move between countries, Iraqi officials said in Baghdad, due to obstacles imposed on Iraqis who require visas to enter most of the world, especially the European Union.

The Iraqi passport lists the countries of the region and the world in the latest classification of the site "Passport Index" on the list of the worst passports in the world.

A number of Iraqi businessmen and members of chambers of commerce in Baghdad and the provinces have asked the government to grant them diplomatic passports to facilitate their movement to and from the country in line with the government's promises to revitalize and support the commercial sector in Iraq, but the government rejected the request and promised the Federation of Iraqi businessmen to approach European and Asian countries to facilitate their entry To those countries for commercial purposes without being implemented.

According to a government official in Baghdad, "the 200 Iraqi businessmen have acquired nationalities of Turkey, Greece, Jordan and other European countries through the laws in force in those countries related to the acquisition of nationality, which is centered on the deposit of large sums of money in banks or the opening of an investment project.

The official, who preferred not to be named, said that the reason for receiving these nationalities is purely commercial because they need to travel and move in more than one place and the Iraqi passport is considered a hindrance to them now.

"This may be a greater risk to the Iraqi market or the beginning of capital migration if business people find a safe place to work in countries that have acquired their nationality," the official said on condition of anonymity.

The decline in world oil prices led to a severe financial crisis that coincided with the war on the organization of "Daash" in the suspension of hundreds of factories and government plants, as well as the cancellation of more than 13 thousand investment projects were planned within the five-year plan 2013-2018, which led to increased reliance on The private sector, especially in the field of projects and short-term investments.

The Iraqi private sector GDP, according to previous reports of the Iraqi Ministry of Planning, increased by more than 33% during the last two years, the highest rate achieved in recent years.

The private sector has been a competitor in various projects and investments such as iron and steel, cement, various construction, canning and food factories, the import and export sector, and local general trade, except for banks, which have grown to 48 private banks in Iraq in the last four years, with an actual value of more than $ 116 billion, To the Central Bank of Iraq in 2014 at a time when the government has only six banks.

The head of the Iraqi Public Pension Authority, Ahmed al-Saadi, recently announced that the number of Iraqis working in the private sector exceeded the 12 million mark of Iraqis, the highest rate reached by the country so far.

A member of the Federation of Iraqi businessmen in Baghdad, Baha Bitar said, "The dozens of Iraqi businessmen and capitalists bought nationalities from other countries."

Bitar explained that "the laws of many countries allow the granting of citizenship through the deposit of funds ranging between 400 to 500 thousand dollars or the opening of an investment project there, and recently some Iraqis have passports without nationality from Arab countries as well."

Al-Bitar added: "I have obtained a Greek passport two years ago and now I go to China, Iran, Turkey and a number of Arab countries without a visa. I complete contracts there and go back to Baghdad. It is sad that Arab countries refuse to enter an Iraqi passport and enter a Greek passport." "This is flawed among us Arabs, especially as we are traders and not politicians," he said.

On this, said the Iraqi financial expert Ahmed, "The purchase of Iraqi businessmen nationals or passports of second countries is positive and no fears that lead to their migration to the country."

"The Iraqi market is profitable and promising and paid the businessman or trader about half a million dollars for obtaining a passport that facilitates his movement means that he is confident of his ability to make up for what he paid and his desire to continue to work in Iraq and invest in it."

The Jordanian Minister of State for Investment, Muhannad Shehata, announced earlier this week to complete the final procedures for five applications submitted by Arab investors, mostly Iraqis to obtain Jordanian nationality.

Shehadeh said in press statements that "the applications that completed the procedures for obtaining citizenship were among the three conditions that were set by the government," referring to the legal procedures to obtain Jordanian nationality for foreign investors, which require investment of at least two million dollars inside Jordan.

Iraqi officials do not have any accurate figures on what the private sector represents in the trade exchange between Iraq and other countries, but the former adviser to the Iraqi Ministry of Commerce Ihsan Khalidi explained that it is high, adding to the "new Arab" that the volume of trade with Iraq, Iran, Exceeds $ 30 billion a year, including at least $ 10 billion of the share of the private sector and the remaining government transactions include oil and important materials subsidized to the Iraqi street.

The head of the Iraqi Business Council in Amman, Majid al-Saadi, said that the number of Iraqi businessmen in Jordan reached 30 thousand and the amount of investment of about 18 billion dollars.

Al-Saadi said during a meeting at the 16th Arab Business Community Forum in the Dead Sea last month that Iraq now needs 5 million housing units and 10-20 thousand megawatts of electricity and 6,000 schools.

He explained that the future of Iraq is bright, especially after the victories achieved by the state against terrorists, expressing the hope of the return of Arab products to the Iraqi market. The Iraqi government is seeking to provide investment facilities in order to attract Iraqi and foreign businessmen to participate in the reconstruction projects of cities liberated from the organization.

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