PIF to invest $ 3 billion in Iraq

The fifth session of the Saudi-Iraqi Coordination Council, which was held today in Jeddah, witnessed a discussion of the establishment of the Saudi-Iraqi Investment Company wholly owned by the Public Investment Fund with investments of three billion dollars, and opportunities for building investment partnerships in Iraq, in addition to reviewing various investment opportunities in a number of sectors.

The two sides praised the growth of the volume of intra-trade between the two brotherly countries, as the volume of trade exchange reached (1.5) billion dollars for the year 2022 AD, with an increase of (50%) compared to the year 2021 AD, which reflects the depth and sustainability of economic relations between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Republic of Iraq, and the two sides agreed To continue to enhance trade exchange between the two countries and to benefit from the opening of the new Arar port and to speed up the opening of the Jumaimah border crossing.

The Saudi side was headed by His Excellency the Minister of Commerce, Dr. Majid bin Abdullah Al-Qasabi, and the Iraqi side was headed by His Excellency the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Planning and Chairman of the Council from the Iraqi side, Dr. Muhammad Ali Tamim.

The two sides approved the results of the Council’s work in its fifth session and the findings of the sub-committees (Energy and Transformational Industries Committee, Political, Security and Military Committee, Cultural, Media and Islamic Affairs Committee, Agricultural Committee, Economic, Trade, Investment, Development and Relief Committee, Education, Youth and Sports Committee , the Committee on Transportation, Border Crossings and Ports, the Finance and Banking Committee), which included stressing the importance of expanding and strengthening the horizons of bilateral cooperation to serve the interests of the two countries and the two brotherly peoples in various fields, especially political, security, commercial, investment, cultural, educational, tourism and energy, and building on the results achieved Positive in the mutual visits between officials of the two countries during the last period

The two sides appreciated the progress in the work of the joint team to implement the Saudi-Iraqi electrical interconnection project with a capacity of 1,000 megawatts in accordance with the principles of the agreement signed between the two sides, stressing their keenness and aspiration to quickly complete the offering and awarding procedures for the implementation of the project, in a way that achieves the aspirations of the leaderships of the two countries and their peoples, while the two sides stressed on The importance of providing the necessary requirements for the implementation of renewable energy projects with a capacity of 1000 megawatts, and the continuation of consultations and meetings for the implementation of the Nebras Al Sharq petrochemical project.

They affirmed their determination to raise the pace of economic and investment cooperation to advance investment relations to the level of promising investment opportunities and projects owned by the two countries, through concerted efforts to create a fertile and stimulating investment environment, create appropriate investment conditions, intensify visits of mutual delegations, and hold joint investment activities in a manner My role is to discuss and explore promising investment opportunities and motivate the government and private sectors to reach qualitative trade and investment exchanges in a manner that achieves the aspirations of the two peoples by launching a set of joint initiatives and supporting companies to enter government competitions.

In addition, the brotherly Republic of Iraq renewed its call for Saudi companies to invest in promising opportunities in Iraq and in various fields

The two sides praised the growth of the volume of intra-trade between the two brotherly countries, as the volume of trade exchange reached (1.5) billion dollars for the year 2022 AD, with an increase of (50%) compared to the year 2021 AD, which reflects the depth and sustainability of economic relations between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Republic of Iraq, and the two sides agreed To continue to enhance trade exchange between the two countries and to benefit from the opening of the new Arar port and to speed up the opening of the Jumaimah border crossing.

The Kingdom praised the economic reforms pursued by the government of the Republic of Iraq, and the two sides affirmed their keenness to enhance joint economic cooperation, which aims to achieve stability and economic prosperity for the two brotherly peoples, which enhances their ability to overcome the challenges posed by the recent international crises.

The two sides praised the role of the Saudi Commercial Attaché and the Saudi Companies Center in Baghdad, which contributed to the development of intra-trade between the two countries and investments by enabling Saudi companies to open branches in the Republic of Iraq and facilitating access to investment opportunities and projects.

What has been accomplished in the financial sector was also praised, as the branch of the National Bank of Iraq will contribute to facilitating the intra-trade process between the two countries, as well as the branch of the Iraqi Trade Bank when it started its work, and the announcement of the Arab National Bank in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with the strategic partner “Arab Bank”. To establish the “Arab Bank of Iraq”, to support the promotion of investments between the two sides, the agreement to avoid double taxation, which is expected to enter into force soon, while it should be noted that cooperation between the two central banks in the two countries includes providing training courses for employees of the Central Bank of Iraq in A number of banking fields, and it was agreed on cooperation between the two central banks in the field of financial technologies, in addition to coordination between other financial agencies such as ministries of finance and financial market authorities.

The two sides stressed the importance of discussing prospects for cooperation and opportunities for integration and striving to build strategic partnerships in the special economic zones between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Republic of Iraq by working to establish a special economic zone on the borders of the two countries.