Baghdad  Head of the State of Law Coalition, Nouri al-Maliki, confirmed to the US Ambassador to Iraq, Alina Romanowski, on Tuesday, that Iraq seeks to maintain its security and political stability as the upcoming parliamentary elections approach.

Maliki’s media office stated in a statement: “Head of the State of Law Coalition, Nouri al-Maliki, received the US Ambassador to Iraq, Alina Romanowski, in his office.”

He added, “During the meeting, views were exchanged on the developments witnessed in the regional and international arenas, especially the efforts to stop the Zionist aggression on the Gaza Strip. A number of issues and files of common interest were also discussed.”

According to the statement, Maliki stressed “the importance of strengthening bilateral relations between the two countries, and activating the strategic framework agreement after the announcement of the international coalition’s withdrawal from Iraq and the transition to comprehensive relations in various fields between Baghdad and Washington,” indicating that

“Iraq seeks to maintain its security and political stability as the upcoming parliamentary elections approach, as the elections, which are expected to be held on time next year, will be important for all current parties.”

Al-Maliki pointed out that “the region is witnessing a major crisis due to the continued Zionist aggression against the Palestinian people, which requires the international community to move to find solutions that end the Zionist aggression against the Palestinian people and the crimes committed against them.”

The US ambassador renewed her country’s support for the stability of Iraq, stressing “the continuation of dialogues between the two countries in order to enhance partnership projects in various important and vital sectors,”

noting that “the United States continues its efforts with international partners to end the war in Gaza, provide aid to the Palestinian people, and end the crisis that the region has been experiencing since the beginning of last October.”

Parliamentary Finance Committee Discusses With Heads Of Customs And Tax Authority Enhancing Non-Oil Revenues

The Parliamentary Finance Committee held a joint meeting today, Tuesday, with the heads of the General Customs and Tax Authority, to discuss enhancing non-oil revenues.

The head of the committee, MP Atwan Al-Atwani, said in a statement to journalists, including the correspondent of the National Iraqi News Agency / NINA /, that “the meeting will study expanding non-oil revenues and discussing the financial situation in light of monetary policy and data on the global oil market.”

He added, “The Finance Committee recently met with the Deputy Prime Minister and the Ministers of Finance, Electricity and Oil to discuss the issue of various revenues, including non-oil revenues, and decided that the committee would proceed with holding meetings with the ministries and agencies concerned with those revenues whose obligations were mentioned in the General Budget Law.”

He explained, “The Parliamentary Finance Committee decided to meet with the head of the Tax Authority and the head of the Customs Authority to clarify what procedures we will proceed with,” indicating that “taxes and customs are important institutions capable of increasing and maximizing non-oil revenues.”

Al-Akeely: Increase In Revenues After Implementing Automation In 9 Customs Centers

The Chairman of the General Authority of Customs, Hassan Hamoud Al-Akeili, confirmed on Monday that he had submitted a briefing to the Finance Committee in the House of Representatives on the measures taken by the Authority for the current and last year.

While he indicated that he had witnessed parliamentary support for amending the Customs Law, he expected the completion of the automation of all ports next year 2025, pointing at the same time to the increase in revenues after the implementation of automation in 9 customs centers.

The Chairman of the Authority, Hassan Hamoud Al-Akeili, said in a statement reported by the official news agency, and reviewed by “Al-Eqtisad News”, that “an important meeting was held today with the Finance Committee in the House of Representatives, as the members of the committee and its chairman listened to everything that was presented by the General Authority of Customs, during this year and last year, from reform steps and a review of the Authority’s procedures and electronic systems that were implemented during this period.

The members also reviewed the level of growth in the Authority’s revenues from 2022 to the increase achieved in 2023, and they also reviewed the increases in revenues achieved during the first half of this year.”

Al-Akeili added, “The representatives made their observations on some performance items and made evaluative observations on some important points that contribute to enhancing work and revenues.

They also expressed support and backing for the General Authority of Customs in moving forward on the subject of automation and on the subject of updating procedures and expanding the geographical area of ​​automated customs centers.

The representatives also expressed their support for moving forward in completing the procedures for legislating to amend the Customs Law, considering it an important law that has been legislated for more than 40 years.

The law is currently in the State Council and is in the process of being presented to the House of Representatives to take its final form.”

He pointed out that “we discussed during the meeting that the increasing increase in customs revenues during this year is due to the implementation of the automation system in nine out of 21 customs ports, expressing his hope that the automation of all ports will be completed by 2025.

“Al-Eqtisad News” Publishes The Full Decisions Of The Cabinet Session

  Al-Eqtisad News publishes the full decisions of the 36th Cabinet session, headed by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani.

The Prime Minister’s Media Office said in a statement, seen by “Al-Eqtisad News”, that “Al-Sudani chaired the thirty-sixth regular session of the Council of Ministers, in which the latest developments in the country were discussed, and a number of important economic files were discussed, in addition to examining the agenda and taking the necessary decisions regarding them.”

The statement added, “In order to ensure that the salaries and financial allocations of the Popular Mobilization Forces members are covered, the Council of Ministers voted to increase the allocations of the Popular Mobilization Forces Authority for the year 2024.”

He explained that “within the follow-up of the completion of major hospital projects, the Council of Ministers approved the recommendations of the minutes of the meeting of the Diwani Order Committee (45 of 2018), regarding establishing the necessary means and mechanisms to complete the public hospital projects that were approved by the Ministry of Planning.”

He pointed out that “in the context of preparing for the general population census, the Council voted to oblige the General Authority of Customs to enter the materials related to the population census, and in the event that a certificate of origin and an original invoice are not submitted,

insurance in the amount of (1) million dinars shall be submitted from the Ministry of Planning, as an exception to Cabinet Resolution (23672 of 2023), and a pledge to submit the aforementioned certificate and lists within 90 days, as a maximum from the date of the customs declaration.”

The statement added: “In the field of supporting strategic crops, the Council of Ministers approved increasing the purchase price of one ton of the barley crop (amber) in Iraq from (950) thousand dinars, to become (1) million dinars per ton, and maintaining the current price of the jasmine barley crop at (800) thousand dinars per ton.”

He continued: “In terms of security cooperation with friendly countries, the Council of Ministers approved the authorization of the National Security Advisor to negotiate and sign a draft memorandum of understanding for security cooperation between the National Security Advisory Council in the Republic of Iraq and the Supreme National Security Council in Iran,

based on the provisions of the Treaty Conclusion Law (35 of 2015), with any amendment, annex or agreement resulting from the aforementioned memorandum being presented to the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers to express an opinion before signing it.”

He pointed out that “the Council approved the recommendations of the minutes of the Diwani Order Committee (23995) related to the Chinese Framework Agreement projects, regarding the ratification of the allocation schedules prepared by the Ministry of Planning, based on the provisions of the Iraqi-Chinese Agreement axis contained in the Federal General Budget Law for the fiscal years 2023-2024-2025.”

He stated that “as part of the government’s efforts to remove obstacles facing stalled and suspended projects, and to complete their implementation, the Council of Ministers approved the following:

1- Increase the reserve amount and the total cost of the project to equip and implement the second phase of the treatment plant on the right side of Mosul city.

2- Increase the cost of the Mosul/Right Coast Sewerage Project (M1-Nineveh).

3- Adjusting the total costs of the project to rehabilitate the halls in Al-Rashad Training Hospital in Baghdad Governorate.

4- Increasing the reserve amount and the total cost of the project to build the Qara Tepe/Omar Mandan Road – Baghdad-Kirkuk Road Junction, with a length of 22 km in its second phase.

The Council approved the Ministry of Finance allocating an amount of (11.839) billion dinars to the operating budget of Diwaniyah Governorate, from the emergency reserve, for the purpose of contracting with cleaning companies to serve the center of Diwaniyah Governorate District, for a period of 3 years, based on the provisions of the Federal General Budget Law (13 of 2023), according to a statement from the media office.

The statement confirmed that “approval was given to exempt the contract to study the merger between the National Insurance Company and the Iraqi Insurance Company into one company, from the first paragraph of Cabinet Resolution 23545 of 2023, to proceed with the procedures for contracting with a company specialized in auditing and monitoring joint accounts.”