The Ministry of Trade confirmed, today, Friday, that the General Company for Central Markets has prepared a well-thought-out plan to resume its activity, noting the imminent opening of 3 markets in Baghdad as part of a comprehensive plan to open 19 sites.

Director General of the Central Markets Company, Zahra Al-Kilani, told the Iraqi News Agency (INA): “The plan includes concluding partnership contracts and contracts to open marketing outlets with private sector companies specialized in this field, as the focus was on Baghdad Governorate, and there are marketing outlets that will have priority in opening to reach the final stages.”

Al-Kilani added that “the central market of Al-Amel neighborhood, Al-Salihiya market, and also Al-Shaab market will be opened very soon, and there will also be some markets with some commercial character, including Al-Rashid Central Market, Al-Khalani Building.”

She stressed that “the company has begun concluding contracts in Nineveh, Kirkuk, Kut and Basra, and the rest of the other markets will witness campaigns to rehabilitate them again,” noting that “the General Company for Central Markets owns 19 central markets throughout Iraq, in addition to other sites, warehouses, complexes and shares that it owns with other companies of the ministry.”  link

Tishwash:  Saudi Arabia is Iraq’s new commercial destination.. Economist predicts the future

Economic experts expected, on Thursday, the growth of trade between Iraq and Saudi Arabia in the coming period, while stressing the importance of developing trade exchange between the two countries, as Saudi Arabia has one of the strongest economies in the Middle East.

Ghazi Faisal, director of the Iraqi Center for Strategic Studies, said in a statement followed by Mawazine News, “Saudi Arabia represents one of the giant regional economies, as its annual GDP is approaching one trillion dollars, and during the past decades it has invested in the field of minerals in addition to gas and oil, as it is the first producer of oil in the world, and it is also an important investor in agriculture and industry, and it previously offered Iraq to invest in agriculture in the south of the country, but pressures from forces opposing openness to Saudi Arabia have disrupted the project.”

Faisal added, “Today there is an important openness to Saudi Arabia, as an agreement was signed since the time of former Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, and the Iraqi-Saudi Economic Council was formed, which holds joint meetings, and Iraq opened up to Saudi investors in various fields.”

Faisal pointed out that “Saudi Arabia is a major player in international economic relations and an important member of the G20 group of economic powers in the world, so it is important for Iraq to open up to the Kingdom and benefit from its capabilities.”
In comparison with neighboring countries, the director of the Iraqi Center for Strategic Studies explained that “Turkey’s products differ in nature, due to the abundance of water and land. It is an important agricultural and industrial country, and trade exchange with Turkey will remain indispensable.”

As for Iran, according to Fassal, it is “an important country commercially, but it is shackled by economic sanctions, as it suffers from restrictions on the movement of currency for trade with Iran, which causes the existence of a parallel market in Iraq and black transfers and other issues that burden the Iraqi economy with major problems.”

It is known that Iraqi markets depend on Turkey and Iran to meet their needs for goods, as the volume of trade exchange between Iraq and Turkey reached $20 billion according to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, while Iran intends to reach this number by 2027.  link