Baghdad – IA – Wissam Al-Mulla
Today, Tuesday, the Parliamentary Investment and Development Committee announced its agreement with the European Union Ambassador Thomas Seiler to introduce European companies to the market and open various factories, while the ambassador confirmed that the Reconstruction and Development Bank will soon work in Iraq.
The head of the committee, Hassan Al-Khafaji, said in a press conference held in the House of Representatives with the participation of the European Union ambassador and attended by the (INA) correspondent: “The committee hosted the European Union ambassador to discuss a number of files related to the new legislation,” indicating that “it was agreed to cooperate and work together to combat Corruption, the introduction of European companies into the Iraqi local market, the exchange of economic and commercial expertise, the opening of new European factories in Iraq, and the refining of the capabilities of Iraqi competencies in various fields.”
He continued: “We asked the European side to open a permanent office and headquarters inside Iraq, since it has no headquarters except inside the British Embassy,” explaining, “We asked to open banking branches in Iraq that finance industrial and investment projects while providing full support from the government and the House of Representatives in the fields of reconstruction and investment.” And loans.”
He stated, “There are currently joint projects in Baghdad, Babylon, and Holy Karbala, where the European Union is interested in infrastructure,” pointing out, “We have requested funding for many projects, especially with Iraq’s accession to the International Arbitration Organization and the vote on the partnership law between the private and public sectors, which allows foreign companies.” Entering and working in Iraq and participating with the private sector for reconstruction and building a new Iraq.”
He stressed that “it was agreed on unified action to bring in solid companies similar to companies operating in the Middle East and international companies that contributed to building Iraq’s factories during the eighties and seventies.”
For his part, the European Union Ambassador to Iraq, Thomas Seiler, said during the conference: “We held a meeting with the Parliamentary Investment and Development Committee in our capacity as the European Union delegation, as one of the outcomes we came up with is that the European Union must make more efforts for European companies to invest in Iraq, and we must “Work together to provide the conditions that enable Europe to invest more in Iraq,” explaining that “the legislative necessities were discussed in order to achieve economic stability in Iraq as well as investment stability, and these are steps that Parliament must take.”
He stated that “there are many laws that support this aspect, including the investment law, the partnership law between the public sector and the private sector, and other laws,” explaining that “this is part of the government’s approach to combat corruption and support investment and the economy.”
He stated: “Today we discussed many issues and many details, and this is part of Europe’s interest in the stability of Iraq, as we see that Iraq can play an important central role in the region politically and economically,” pointing to “the necessity of developing the European Union’s investment programs, especially the financial and banking institutions, which are the Bank.” The European Union for Reconstruction and Development, which we expect will soon come to work in Iraq, as well as the European Investment Bank, which is concerned with providing loans and expertise to support infrastructure projects, but we have committed ourselves to working in this aspect for the benefit of the Iraqi citizen, and we will cooperate with local authorities to achieve this.”