A spokesman for the Ministry of Planning has told the state-run Iraqi News Agency (INA) that poverty has declined from 22 to 17 percent and unemployment from 16 to 13 percent in recent years, attributing the improvement to government measures and private-sector cooperation.
Abd al-Zahra al-Hindawi added that the private sector is set to account for 35 percent of investment under the country’s five-year National Development Plan (NDP), equivalent to around IQD 84 trillion (USD 65 billion).
Al-Hindawi said the Ministry of Planning had held a scientific conference in cooperation with the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, with participation from:
- University presidents and faculty deans
- Academics and subject-matter experts
- Private-sector representatives
The conference aimed to identify the root causes of unemployment and develop remedies, with al-Hindawi noting that understanding the cause represents half the solution.
He said the conference’s findings and recommendations would be submitted to the incoming government for action, and that those recommendations would be translated into administrative policies and field-based work programmes. The private sector, he added, was central to the proposed remedies for absorbing unemployment and containing poverty.
