Saudi Trade Minister reveals support for Iraqi development project

The Minister of Commerce, Mohammed al-Ani, on Thursday, the most prominent trade files that were discussed with the Saudi economic delegation. The Saudi delegation considered that the level of trade volume does not rise to the level of bilateral relations between the two countries, revealing the support of the development project of Iraq by one billion dollars.

"The economic trade talks between Iraq and Saudi Arabia started today, in Baghdad, the visit of a Saudi economic and investment delegation headed by the Minister of Trade and Investment Majid bin Abdullah al-Qasabi," the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement.
"The visit of the Saudi delegation to Iraq was fruitful and successful, and after the meeting with the three presidencies and the Iraqi Iraqi desire to activate and develop relations with the Saudi sister in all fields," Trade Minister Mohammad Hashem al-Ani said.

Al-Ani added that "the talks witnessed joint meetings between the Saudi delegation and the Iraqi government sectors according to specialization, which will contribute to activating the work of the Coordination Council, which was agreed upon between the two countries since 2017", stressing that "this Council seeks to activate relations at the strategic level and open new horizons In addition to the formation of joint committees between the Ministry of Commerce and its Saudi counterpart and the signing of memorandums of understanding between the Border Ports Authority and the General Customs Authority in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as well as a memorandum of understanding in the field of customs cooperation between the Ministry of Finance Yeh and the Saudi government. "

The minister pointed out that "the working paper in the discussions was aimed at activating the work of the Iraqi-Saudi joint committee, which has been suspended since 1990, as well as work on opening the border port of the province of Muthanna to its importance in facilitating the shortening of trade routes, especially the southern Iraqi provinces."

Al-Ani stressed that "the meeting discussed the development of Arar border port, which is still not active in front of the trade movement, because it is important to increase the volume of trade exchange between the two countries, as well as facilitate the passage of Iraqi pilgrims," adding that " Transit transport between the Arab League countries, which was ratified by Iraq in 1978 and ratified by Saudi Arabia in 1979 in order to facilitate the passage of goods and goods.

The minister added that "the talks discussed the joint cooperation in combating smuggling, especially that Iraq and Saudi Arabia have long borders, as well as benefit from the Saudi experience in the field of diversification of the base of the economy and reduce the dependence on oil," noting that " Including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which supports investment in the production and development dates, in addition to know the latest methods in palm cultivation, and also the exchange of information on free zones in terms of laws and regulations and instructions between Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

For his part, the Saudi Minister of Commerce, Majid bin Abdullah Al Qasabi, expressed his happiness and his accompanying delegation to "visit Iraq and meet with the three presidencies and conveyed the greetings of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdul Aziz and his wishes to the Iraqi people for good and prosperity. On terrorism ".

"I personally invited King Salman to Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi to visit the Kingdom and promised to meet them soon," al-Kasabi said.
Regarding the bilateral talks, the Saudi minister explained that "the discussions covered all aspects of economic, investment and commercial work," noting that "we exchanged with our Iraqi brothers information and ideas for the development of economic relations which are still without ambition and do not upgrade to the level of relations existing between the two countries."
ointed out that "the next few years will see more bilateral cooperation, which includes the establishment of an Iraqi-Saudi business council involving the private sector in both countries, with the aim of developing a vision to develop relations and establish bilateral investment projects."

Al-Qasabi stressed that "the Kingdom will support the development of Iraq by one billion dollars," pointing out that "the amount will be allocated to support the recently released amounts of terrorism and the modernization and reconstruction of infrastructure services projects."

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