Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani confirmed on Tuesday that his government has completed 62% of projects in various sectors within two years. While he pointed out that achieving an increase in non -oil revenues by 6% , he pointed out that the government’s measures contributed to reducing the poverty rate in Iraq to 17.6%.
Al-Sudani’s media office stated in a statement received by Shafak News Agency, the most prominent points made by Al-Sudani during today’s cabinet session, on the occasion of the second anniversary of the formation of the government.
Al – Sudani said, ” The government’s overall achievement rate of targets in various fields reached 62 % during the government’s term . We also succeeded in prominent and important files , faced difficulties in other files , and were late in some details and files .”
He added , “During two years, we stopped more than once to evaluate the course of work, and we issued 3 reports on the implementation of the government program . Our achievement was not limited to one sector , nor to one city or governorate, but rather covered the districts, districts , and city centers .”
He pointed out that ” the service and engineering effort team was dedicated to completing quick services , and we addressed the stalled projects , some of which date back to 2005 , through Cabinet decisions . ”
He explained that ” the number of stalled projects was (1471) projects, we resumed work on (555) projects for ministries, and stalled projects decreased to (916) projects ,” noting that ” work resumed on (442) contracts and projects at the governorate level , and ongoing projects amounted to (8934) projects .”
Al – Sudani explained, ” We focused on infrastructure projects , sewage treatment plants and networks, and the provision of drinking water . Until yesterday , we included new projects due to population expansion .”
Regarding road and bridge projects, Al-Sudani pointed out that “ the traffic congestion relief project was one of the most prominent projects in Baghdad, which has not seen a bridge since 1996 , despite the expansion .”
He added, ” Last year , we started road and bridge projects related to the million-person visits , to serve millions of visitors, and the number of traffic accidents decreased .”
He added, ” We were late in providing some services, such as the water desalination project in Basra, and the required service at Iraqi airports , which is still below the required level .”
Al-Sudani continued, ” We were late in preparing residential plots of land , and it was our obligation to start distributing 500,000 residential plots of land , and land is one of the complex problems that hinder residential projects .”
In the field of health, he said, “ In health, we opened new hospitals , specialized centers , health centers and primary care , and a large number of hospitals and health centers were rehabilitated .”
He added, ” In electricity, we achieved the highest production of electrical energy by reaching 27 thousand megawatts, and we started new projects , and opened projects to resolve bottlenecks in the network, and others related to the combined cycle and new feeders .”
He said , ” We have taken an important step in solar energy, and work is underway on 15 projects with a total capacity of 5,720 megawatts .”
Al-Sudani said, “ On the housing level , we announced important residential cities that will bring about a qualitative shift in allocating housing units with all services to citizens.” He added, “We have made significant progress in school building projects , some of which are lagging behind, such as Project No. 1. This year, the Iraqi- Chinese agreement projects will be completed , and schools have been rehabilitated and restored in all governorates .”
He pointed out that ” there is a project for the ( Iraq Development Fund ) that will end the issue of the need for schools according to a new vision related to purchasing the service ,” noting that ” the National Strategy for Education 2022-2031 , the Study in Iraq project , and sending students to study at reputable universities have been launched .”
He said, ” In the axis of combating poverty, 962 thousand families were covered by social protection , an increase of 85% , which means that 7 million and 600 thousand individuals were covered by social protection .”
He explained, ” 130 million food baskets have been distributed monthly since the formation of the government, and over a period of two years ,” noting, ” We have activated the student grant , school nutrition , and tuition fees for those covered, people with disabilities , and children with diabetes , and added them to social protection and health insurance .”
Al-Sudani continued, ” We targeted multidimensional poverty and alleviating poverty for families below the poverty line ,” considering that ” the government’s measures contributed to reducing the poverty rate in Iraq to 17.6% after it was 23 %.”
He said, ” In the file of combating unemployment , the government addressed inherited problems by appointing hundreds of thousands of people with higher degrees , contracts, and top graduates , and we launched the ( Riyada ) initiative for employment .”
He added, ” The government’s measures contributed to reducing the unemployment rate in general from 16.5% to 14.4%,” explaining, ” In combating financial and administrative corruption , we worked on several levels to reform the administrative institutions, and we adopted a new philosophy in recovering money and wanted persons , and we achieved numbers in this field .”
On the economic and financial reform axis , he pointed out that “the government has taken steps that constitute structural reforms in which all state institutions have contributed ,” indicating that ” overall inflation has been reduced from 4.9% in 2022 to 3% in 2024. ”
He continued, ” We achieved a 6% increase in non -oil revenues , and we raised tax revenues for the year 2024 by a 23% increase ,” adding, ” The amounts collected from electronic payments reached (7.6) trillion dinars, after they did not exceed (2.4) trillion dinars in January 2023. ”
Al-Sudani considered that ” the establishment of the ( Iraq Development Fund ) represented the most important reforms that were included in the budget law , and represents a new vision to support the private sector , and we included an article related to granting sovereign guarantees for projects .”
He added, ” We have achieved a shift in presenting investment opportunities and granting investment licenses in the field of industrial and agricultural projects ,” indicating, ” We have started localizing the pharmaceutical industry and opening several projects, and we have reached covering the local need by 35% after it was 10% , and it is hoped to reach 85% within 3 years .”
He said that ” the failure to implement the Social Security Law properly has had a negative impact on the private sector as companies, and has also undermined workers’ guarantees ,” noting that ” we have taken measures to support the attractive business environment for companies, and to register companies with tax departments and customs facilities .”
Al-Sudani warned, ” We face challenges at the border crossings , despite the reforms and implementation of network connectivity , but the revenues of the crossings have not reached the required level , especially with regard to our crossings in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, and we need more measures to control them and unify the customs tariff .”
He acknowledged, ” We have been late in developing the tourism sector , and we have not invested in our religious , historical , archaeological and natural sites , despite their importance in supporting the national economy .”
He said, ” We have the right to achieve self -sufficiency in terms of strategic crops , and we need to work more to implement an agricultural vision according to the available water resources . ”
He added, ” We have taken decisions to establish a national mobile phone company , and we are waiting to complete the matter with international companies so that the service will be available and represent additional revenues for the state .”
He pointed out that ” in the sports sector , there are advanced percentages of stadiums that have been completed and that are important to athletes ,” explaining, ” We announced the strategic development road project , and signed the quadripartite memorandum of understanding with Qatar , the Emirates and Turkey, and work is ongoing to complete it .”
He added , ” We are working in parallel with companies specialized in the design process for current railway rehabilitation projects, to be a second project until the development road project is built .”
He pointed out that ” we announced the ( Karbala- Najaf Train ) and ( Baghdad Metro ) projects , and we are continuing negotiations with the sectoral authorities and the consulting company ,” adding that ” the water management project with the Turkish side is one of the most important strategic projects that will ensure sustainability for us in the agricultural sector .”
He added, ” We have achieved advanced completion rates in the announced projects for the Grand Faw Port , including the docks, the submerged tunnel , the navigation channel , the container yard, and the connecting road .”
Al-Sudani announced, ” We have reached an agreement with the countries of the international coalition to end the coalition’s mission according to a declared time frame .”
He said , “We were able to issue a resolution in the UN Security Council regarding the UN mission , ” acknowledging that ” we face financial challenges through providing cash liquidity , controlling spending priorities , and shifting to a program budget according to the ministerial program .”
He added, ” We seek to increase revenues , rationalize spending , and digitally transform financial and customs transactions , and we are working to subject all financial transactions to compliance and governance rules .”
He pointed out that ” the old legislation does not keep pace with the current stage , and disrupts the process of reconstruction , investment and services ,” warning that ” the region is going through developments as a result of conflicts, and they directly affect the security and economic conditions in Iraq .”
Al-Sudani revealed, ” We are in the process of making a ministerial amendment according to performance and work indicators . It is not a political position towards this bloc or this party, but rather a desire to achieve more effective performance to meet the requirements of the stage and the aspirations of citizens .”
He announced, ” We have completed an important entitlement represented by the provincial council elections after it was delayed for years ,” indicating, ” The population census is one of the important entitlements that await us .”
