Saturday AM Iraq Economic News Highlights 9-24-22
Iraq And The Gulf Cooperation Council Discuss Economic Support And Energy Connectivity
Policy 2022-09-23 | 09:00 1,324 views Today, Friday, Foreign Minister Fouad Hussein discussed with the Secretary-General of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, Nayef Al-Hajraf, a number of issues related to joint Arab action, in addition to economic support and energy connectivity.
The Foreign Ministry said in a statement received by Alsumaria news Hussein “met Al-Hajraf, on the sidelines of the meetings of the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly, held in New York, and the two sides discussed ways to enhance cooperation between Cooperation Council and the Republic of Iraq”.
The minister stressed that “the government is interested in developing relations with countries Cooperation Council At all levels, expressing his thanks and appreciation to the Secretary-General for continuing serious work in the field of economic support and linking energy that contribute to improving the conditions of the Iraqi people and advancing the Iraqi economy.
And he indicated, “Iraq is a promising and safe investment environment, calling on investment companies to work in Iraq in the field of infrastructure. The Minister also briefed the Secretary-General on the latest developments in the Iraqi political situation, and the official political movement on the formation of the new government.”
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The two sides discussed “a number of regional and international issues of common concern, especially the impact of the Russian-Ukrainian war on food security, and the need to work collectively to confront the possible repercussions of the crisis in its various economic and social dimensions.”
For his part, Al-Hajraf confirmed, “Support B3 Cooperation Council for the security and stability of Iraq, stressing the keenness of the Gulf states to advance Gulf-Iraqi relations in the service of common interests. LINK
The Iraqi Embassy In Berlin: There Is No Pressure To Prevent German Companies Investing From Working In Iraq
Economie| 06:30 – 09/23/2022 Baghdad – Mawazine News
The Embassy of the Republic of Iraq in the German capital Berlin confirmed today, Friday, that there are no pressures or reasons to prevent German companies investing from working in Iraq, indicating only two reasons that affect the volume of investment.
The Iraqi ambassador in Berlin, Luqman Al-Faili, said that “there is nothing to prevent German companies from investing in Iraq, but there are considerations that affect.”
He added, “The first of these considerations is the security situation, which the media marketed badly, contrary to reality, as Iraq is currently enjoying stability, and the second matter is the bureaucracy applied under the laws, which does not encourage the expansion of companies’ work in Iraq.”
On Germany’s security and intelligence cooperation with Iraq, Al-Faili confirmed that “Berlin is present within the framework of the international coalition in support and advice, and the activity of its trainers is subject to evaluation for periods ranging from one year to 6 months.” Ended 29 / h
https://www.mawazin.net/Details.aspx?jimare=206291
Al-Kazemi To His Dutch Counterpart: Iraq Is Proceeding With Economic Reform And Has Achieved Important Growth Rates
political| 01:32 – 09/24/2022 Baghdad – Mawazine News, Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi met today, Friday, in New York, with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, on the sidelines of participation in the meetings of the United Nations General Assembly.
During the meeting, they discussed relations between Iraq and the Netherlands, the overall Iraqi relations with the European Union countries, and cooperation in the fight against terrorism and the pursuit of ISIS remnants.
The two sides discussed ways to enhance bilateral cooperation in various economic and investment fields, development fields, confronting the effects of drought, working to develop water treatment methods, and adopting modern methods of irrigation, as part of efforts to meet the challenges of climate change.
During the meeting, the Prime Minister stressed that Iraq is proceeding with economic reform; This enabled it to achieve important growth rates, mitigate the impact of global crises and the effects of the Corona pandemic, and that Iraq has initiated important and strategic programs and projects to advance the Iraqi economy. https://www.mawazin.net/Details.aspx?jimare=206330
Planning: Iraq Loses Two Billion Dollars Annually As A Result Of Delays Or Stoppages Of Projects
Reports Economy News-Baghdad Development plans in Iraq are affected by changing priorities in light of events in the country, which is a matter that has caused great losses, according to what the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Planning Maher Hammad Johan said in an interview with Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.
* What are the causes of defects in the implementation of development plans in Iraq?
Development projects go through two tracks; The first is the five-year development plan, which sets determinants and goals and is co-written by the Ministry of Planning with the parties concerned with the plan. Unfortunately, this plan is not implemented as required due to the continuous change of priorities of the concerned authorities, including the governorates, to meet the urgent needs.
The second track relates to the relationship of Iraq’s economy to oil and the steadily openness to projects, as the openness takes place horizontally and thousands of them are initiated, and the fact that this openness and changing priorities are imposed by the circumstances, changes, and economic, security and political events that the country is witnessing.
* What is the size of the financial losses due to the delay or suspension of projects?
At the level of the investment budget, we lose annually 3 trillion dinars (two billion dollars) as a result of stopping projects and the deterioration of their assets, as well as delays in providing the envisaged service and not keeping pace with population growth, at the same time, more than 80 percent of the suspended projects have been restored.
* What about the national development plan for the years 2018-2022?
The plan developed strategies that start with the governance of all institutions, the trend for automation, and the improvement of human development indicators, and focused on reducing poverty, completing infrastructure projects in the governorates, and achieving economic diversification by supporting the private sector to provide jobs away from the government sector.
However, the country’s circumstances, starting with the demonstrations and the subsequent repercussions of the Corona pandemic and the collapse of oil prices to catastrophic levels, are reasons that led to the failure to proceed with some of the contents of this plan.
But after the improvement in oil prices at the end of 2020, another reason emerged, as the House of Representatives drew a new picture of the 2021 budget presented by the government, and it turned into an expenditure budget, which reduced the allocations for development projects.
What are the causes of slack in the structure of public jobs in Iraq?
Currently, the percentage of employees from the size of the population in Iraq reaches 8-9 percent, according to what is established in the budget law. As for the sagging caused by the large number of employees in Iraq, several options were put forward to address it, including granting employees wishing to leave the job an end-of-service bonus and others.
In fact, as long as the public sector provides salaries and benefits that the private sector cannot match, the government employee will not think of leaving his job, in addition to the fact that the job provides a comfortable retirement.
* What is the annual spending on salaries versus employee productivity?
Last year, during the preparation of the 2022 budget, which was not approved, the size of salaries was estimated at between 48 to 53 trillion dinars (33 to 36 billion dollars) annually, and these expenditures join the operating budget, that is, government spending that ranges between 40-50 percent of the size of the budget. Annual state budget.
As for productivity, we believe that compared to the achieved production outputs, it does not exceed 25% in general, and the hours of production and service in state departments we believe are very low, rising in certain departments and falling in others to a level that may not exceed 10%.
What did the Ministry of Planning do to raise the efficiency and productivity of employees?
The Ministry of Planning was tasked with preparing an administrative reform strategy and another strategy to increase production efficiency, and they were actually exported after being approved by the Council of Ministers. The implementation will not fall on us only, as there is also a role for the Federal Service Council and the targeted ministries, and the goal is to find mechanisms for follow-up, monitoring and evaluation of real performance.
The job number project will also give the government a clear picture of the details of the job body, and the related financial policy, and will contribute to stopping the problem of multiple salaries, as the law does not allow an employee to receive more than one salary, with exceptions related to the families of martyrs and political prisoners.
* Have you determined the size of the fictitious employees in public administrations?
We did not find fictitious people or what the Iraqis call “alien” who receive salaries without work in the first place, or fake names for which others receive salaries, but rather shares of intersection and checking employee information to reveal employees who left work but are still receiving salaries, and others receive social protection salaries.
These are allocated to people with low incomes, and employees on permanent owners who work as a contract with other departments, and the reality of the numbers of these may be in the tens of thousands, and work is still underway to conduct an intersection of information, and others may be revealed.
9 . views Added 09/24/2022 – 1:01 PM Update 09/24/2022 – 1:28 PM
https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=29862
Iraq Imported 24 Of The Main Iranian Commodities, The Most Important Of Which Are Fuel And Iron
Shafaq News/ “Fuel and iron” materials were considered among the most important Iraqi imports from Iran during the year 2021, according to the trade map website, which provides a map of countries’ trade for exports, imports, international demand, alternative markets and competitive markets.
The website stated in a statistic on its website, which was reviewed by Shafaq News Agency, that “Iraq imported from Iran during the past year 24 main commodities, with a financial value of 8,914.605 dollars,” noting that “the growth of imports from Iran increased by 1% between 2017 to 2021 “.
He added, “Mineral fuel came first in Iraq’s imports from Iran, with a value of 2,927.651 dollars, followed by iron and steel products, with a financial value of 1,149,722 dollars, and plastic products with a value of 788 million dollars.”
The site also indicated that “Iraq’s exports to Iran amounted to 1,196.597 dollars, indicating that “these exports increased by 88% between 2017 to 2021.”
He stated that “Iraq’s most important exports to Iran were grains, with a financial value of $770 million, followed by waste and waste from the food industry, and prepared animal feed at a value of $101 million.” LINK
Iraqi Ambassador: Two Considerations Affect The Investment Of Foreign Companies In The Country
Calendar 2022/09/23 Iraqi Ambassador: Two considerations affect the investment of foreign companies in the country Views 37 Baghdad / Al-Mawrid News The Embassy of the Republic of Iraq in the German capital, Berlin, confirmed today, Friday, that there are no pressures or reasons to prevent the investment of German companies from working in Iraq, indicating only two reasons that affect the volume of investment.
The Iraqi ambassador in Berlin, Luqman Al-Faili, said in an interview with the official agency, that “there is nothing to prevent German companies from investing in Iraq, but there are considerations that affect.”
He added, “The first of these considerations is the security situation, which the media marketed badly, contrary to reality, as Iraq is currently enjoying stability, and the second matter is the bureaucracy applied under the laws, which does not encourage the expansion of companies’ work in Iraq.”
On Germany’s security and intelligence cooperation with Iraq, Al-Faili confirmed that “Berlin is within the framework of the international coalition in support and advice, and the activity of its trainers is subject to evaluation for periods ranging from one year to six months.”
https://almawrid.news/contents/view/details?id=54761
Al-Sari Demands The Finance To Reveal The Personalities Involved In The Loss Of More Than 800 Million Dollars
2022/09/24 Al-Sari demands the Finance to reveal the personalities involved in the loss of more than 800 millio Views 173 Baghdad/ Today, Saturday, a member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Faleh Al-Sari, demanded that the Ministry disclose the personalities involved in the loss of more than 800 million dollars.
Al-Sari said in a statement, “We followed with interest what was stated in the outputs of the committee formed in the Ministry of Finance regarding what it spoke about waste and embezzlement in public money, the value of which amounted to more than one trillion Iraqi dinars, and based on the supervisory and ethical role and in order to preserve public money, we demand the Ministry of Finance to disclose the amounts {Secretariats} that were received by the General Authority for Taxation, according to the results of the investigative committees, which confirmed the loss of huge sums amounting to more than 800 million dollars, and to find out the minutes and details of matters and inform the public opinion about them.
He added, “The ministry must provide satisfactory answers to questions about the name of the responsible party or the person who committed the manipulation,” stressing that “the transfer penalty is not satisfied, as this is an administrative procedure.
And Al-Sari continued, “And the answer to how to move the trust accounts opened with the Rafidain Bank and return it 300 to 400 billion dinars per month and the beneficiaries, and is the bank involved in this, and has the Integrity Commission or the Public Prosecution Office been approached with the aforementioned crime.”
On the contrary, we hold the Ministry of Finance legally responsible for the loss of public money and the concealment of the perpetrators, and we will file a legal complaint against the Ministry and its management in the event of suspicions of corruption, leniency or cover-up of the crime.
https://almawrid.news/contents/view/details?id=54787
