Yesterday, the second meeting of the Economic, Trade, Investment and Relief Committee was held in the Saudi-Iraqi Coordination Council headed by Eng. Khaled Al-Falih, Minister of Investment, Chairman of the Committee on the Saudi side, and Dr. Khaled Al-Najm, Iraqi Minister of Planning.
The head of the committee on the Saudi side opened its work with a word in which he explained the importance of developing relations between the two countries in all its aspects through the work of the committees emanating from the Saudi-Iraqi Coordination Council. Stressing the commitment to implement the work entrusted to the committee on the Saudi side of the Coordination Council and to continue working to facilitate the economy, investment, trade, development and relief and to develop them according to implementation programs and plans with performance indicators and specific timetables for implementation in accordance with a clear governance framework for both sides, in order to enhance the strategic integration between Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
Eng. Khaled Al-Falih explained that the Saudi side has worked on many tasks entrusted to it since the end of the work of the Coordination Council from its third meeting in Riyadh on Dhu al-Qi’dah 29, corresponding to July 20. He explained that the business sector in the Kingdom is interested in investment opportunities in Iraq, especially in the field of energy, industry, mineral wealth and agriculture
He pointed out that there are a number of companies currently investing in Iraq, and there is a real desire for a number of Saudi companies to expand their investments in Iraq, as despite the challenges, there are Saudi investments in Iraq that exceed two billion riyals in size. Stressing that the ambitions are much higher, which confirms the Saudi side’s keenness on additional investments that are expected to reach nearly 10 billion riyals in various sectors.
The committee chairman noted the importance of strengthening the economic partnership between the two countries to serve the business sector and the importance of accelerating the formation of the Saudi-Iraqi Business Council in line with aspirations, as well as enabling the Saudi private sector to invest in Iraq and expand this through what is provided by the agreement to encourage and protect mutual investments between the two countries that require The approval of the Iraqi side. He explained that the trade exchange between the two countries is less than hoped, as the Kingdom’s exports to Iraq represent a very small percentage in the Iraqi market compared to neighboring countries that require addressing the challenges facing Saudi exports, including preventing the import of some goods and imposing high fees to protect a local product on a number of goods.
He expressed his optimism that the committee’s work would contribute to increasing the economic growth of the two countries through the opening of the “Jadidat Arar” outlet and its readiness on both sides, including the complementary works of clearing, transporting, handling and operating for maintenance purposes. Praising the growth in the number of trips between the two countries, which jumped to nearly (20%), reaching (3566) trips in 2019. He concluded his speech by stressing the readiness of the Saudi Development Fund to accelerate the financing of development projects in Iraq in accordance with the mechanism followed by the fund.
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