Baghdad – IA
Supporting the private sector and creating job opportunities, priorities emphasized by the government program of Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani, were supported by plans to invest in the role of this sector in diversifying the economy, reducing dependence on oil, and contributing to creating sustainable development.
Activating the private sector
This trend was supported by unprecedented government decisions, including a decision issued by the Council of Ministers on January 31, 2023, amending the prices of petroleum products for private and mixed sector projects, so that the price of black oil supplied to oxidized asphalt plants would be at a price of 35% of the international bulletin price, provided that it does not exceed The price of one ton is 250 thousand dinars, with a quantity of about 70-100% of the design capacity, and the situation is kept as it is for the factories that receive black oil at a price of 100 thousand dinars per ton, and for the rest of the factories at a price of 150 thousand dinars per ton.
As well as introducing the private sector into the implementation of new residential city projects by a decision of the Council of Ministers dated March 7, 2023.
The Council of Ministers took a set of decisions on March 28, 2023, which included writing off the amounts of professional fees and construction permit fees owed by industrial projects, the amounts of fines owed by commercial companies, and the amounts of fines owed by taxpayers resulting from the application of Article (30) of the Real Estate Tax Law No. (126) of 1959. .
Government decisions also included granting sovereign guarantees to the private sector in the tripartite budget to support the establishment of laboratories and factories and establishing agricultural projects, proposing a new vision for grants to the private sector to achieve reform efforts, activating the laws in force that care for workers in the private sector, ensuring their retirement, and proposing a retirement and social security law in order to reform the legal environment. To operate the private sector and create jobs in it, which the House of Representatives actually voted on on May 17, 2023.
On April 7, the Council of Ministers voted to approve the issuance of investment and partnership instructions between the public sector and the private sector for the year 2024, based on the provisions of the Constitution and the Federal General Budget Law of the Republic of Iraq for the three fiscal years.
On June 4, the Council of Ministers issued several decisions to support the private industrial sector, which included obliging the Ministry of Oil not to cut the monthly fuel quota for all industrial projects, for any reason, as well as not to impose a month of maintenance on industrial projects and not to withhold the monthly fuel quota for this reason, and also a decision Providing all industrial projects with their actual shares of petroleum derivatives confirmed according to the need assessment list.
On July 23, and within the framework of developing and supporting the national industry, the Council approved the recommendations of the minutes of the meeting of the Dry Gas Committee for Investment Projects and the commitment of the Ministry of Oil to allocate and equip new industrial projects planned to be established in partnership with the private sector, by public companies in the Ministry of Industry and Minerals, in quantities of dry gas, According to the quantities needed by these projects, according to a timetable for preparation, and at prices that achieve the economic feasibility of establishing these projects. Quantities and prices are regulated through an agreement between the Ministries of Oil and Industry and with the approval of the Ministerial Council for the Economy.
Within the framework of the government’s vision for economic reform and revitalizing the investment and development movement in the country, the Council of Ministers approved on August 18 the national strategy for bank lending prepared by the Central Bank of Iraq, including the recommendations and programs established in it.
The strategy aims to stimulate the growth of the Iraqi private sector by improving the business environment, attracting local and foreign investors, and increasing the credit granted to it from the non-oil GDP by 2029, as well as increasing credit to small projects from the non-oil GDP and financing nearly 100,000 projects.
Government procedures and openings
Within the framework of the measures adopted by the government to advance the private sector and make it a partner in the construction and reconstruction process, the government worked to end the wrong practices that hinder the work of the private sector and raise its contribution to the national economy by approving the recommendations of the Ministerial Council for the Economy and subjecting projects to fair competition on the basis of efficiency and confronting any extortion process. The implementing companies may be exposed to it, in addition to facilitating the granting of entry visas to businessmen to Iraq, forming a follow-up cell to follow up on the implementation of projects, and firmly confronting any blackmail that the implementing companies may be exposed to, from any party.
In this regard, the Prime Minister also held a number of meetings, including a meeting with a number of businessmen, investors and project owners in the private sector, and a meeting with representatives of private sector companies specialized in implementing sewer network projects in Baghdad, during which he called on all private sector investors to seize the available opportunities. In Iraq.
On July 17, 2023, the Prime Minister chaired a meeting devoted to discussing the reality of the industrial sector in Iraq and the process of launching a new industrial initiative to advance this sector, in the presence of a number of advisors and representatives of the private sector.
On December 2, 2023, the Prime Minister announced the offering of 90 investment opportunities in partnership with the private sector in various industrial sectors throughout Iraq.
On December 6, 2023, the Prime Minister sponsored the signing of the partnership contract between the Iraqi Diyar Company (private sector) and the Saudi Northern Cement Company, in the first partnerships between the Iraqi and Saudi private sectors in the field of cement.
On March 9, the Prime Minister opened in Basra last March 9 factories and production lines for fertilizers, both types of fertilizers and urea, in partnership with the private sector. He stressed that this partnership adds modern technology to the state and covers part of the budget requirements.
During his visit to the United States, which began on April 14, 2024, the Prime Minister decided to include a delegation from the private sector and Iraqi businessmen and women in the visiting delegation. During the visit, the Prime Minister also sponsored the signing of similar memorandums of understanding between the Iraqi private sector and American companies in the fields of energy and pharmaceutical industry. On April 18, 2024.
On May 1, the Prime Minister inaugurated the continuous casting factory/first phase, at the General Company for Steel Industries, in the Taji area, north of the capital, Baghdad, after rehabilitating, modernizing and operating it, with a production capacity of up to 600 thousand tons annually. He welcomed investors from the private sector in Iraq and greeted them. Their step is to invest with companies of the Ministry of Industry and Minerals.
On May 9, the Prime Minister launched work on the Al-Ittihad Mills Project, in the city of Al-Madhatiya in Babil Governorate, and inaugurated the Al-Ittihad Company’s sugar factory expansion project, after adding new production lines for sugar production, raising the factory’s production capacity from (4,200) tons per day to (4,200) tons per day. 6000 tons per day, and a vegetable oil extraction plant, a plant feed production plant, and a premix plant were also opened in the company.
On July 5, the Prime Minister opened the second specialized workshop to support the private industrial construction sector, during which a cooperation agreement was signed between the Trade Bank of Iraq (TBI) and the German Export Credit Corporation, to finance private sector development projects.
Last July 20, the Prime Minister opened (4) factories for the Military Industrialization Authority, including the electric car production factory at the General Military Industries Company, implemented in partnership with the private sector.
Directions
On May 17, 2023, the Prime Minister issued a number of directives aimed at strengthening the partnership with the private sector and giving it more space in development fields. Among these directives is the emphasis on partnership with the private sector, disbursing dues to private sector companies implementing projects, and providing job opportunities for young people by encouraging… Investment, attracting investors, and reviewing investment licenses granted in the governorates, in addition to giving priority to supporting the private sector and continuing to hold meetings with it.
The Prime Minister also confirmed on July 22, 2023, that the government has launched major projects with the participation of the private sector, such as manufacturing, petrochemical, and fertilizer industries projects, and there are serious requests from local and regional companies to invest in gas, phosphate, and sulfur, in addition to integrated residential city projects, which include all economic activities. Five cities were announced, and we are in the process of preparing the second phase in order to prepare them for investment. He stressed that the private sector is a partner in the correct implementation of projects that address pressing service crises in all sectors.
While the government took steps, within its ministerial platform, to encourage the private sector, the government also worked in cooperation with the House of Representatives to legislate laws that would advance the private sector, such as the National Product Protection Law No. 11, the Consumer Protection Law No. 1, and the Competition and Antitrust Law No. 14.
Also, on August 1, the Prime Minister directed the formation of a committee from the departments of the Ministry of Construction, Housing, Municipalities and Public Works, which will undertake the process of opening and analyzing the offers submitted by private sector companies to build schools within the projects of the Iraq Fund for Development, as well as reviewing the contracts concluded with investors in building projects. school, auditing it, and indicating its conformity with the approved specifications and conditions.
Events and partnerships
Government support for the private sector included the participation of businessmen and women in the Iraqi-Egyptian Business Forum, which was held on June 13, 2023 during the Prime Minister’s visit to Egypt.
As part of government efforts to revitalize the private sector, the final statement of the joint Iraqi-Jordanian committee meeting on July 24, 2023 included support for the role of the private sector in increasing the volume of trade exchange between the two countries in the fields of industry, energy, investment, transportation, agriculture, environment, health and education, for the benefit of both countries. And the two brotherly peoples.
On September 3, 2023, the Ministry of Transport also signed an agreement with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to rehabilitate and develop Baghdad International Airport. It included the IFC providing consultations on the path to developing the role of the private sector and enhancing its entry into the arena of public services in partnership with the public sector and sectors facing challenges. Futurism.