Iraqi FM says ‘door is open’ for Gulf investment in the country

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s foreign minister on Monday said that the country’s door is open to companies from the Gulf looking to invest, in a joint press conference with the head of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in Baghdad. 

“We advocate for encouraging the companies of the Gulf countries to invest in Iraq,” Fuad Hussein said, stressing Baghdad’s need for foreign investment, in a joint presser with the Secretary-General of the GCC, Jasim Mohammed al-Budaiwi.

“Iraqi doors are open to the Gulf companies,” he added.

The Iraqi foreign minister acknowledged the security concerns of the companies, vowing to ensure their safety while operating in Iraq. 

“We discussed dealing with presidential or private funds that will ensure the work of the companies in Iraq,” he said.

Iraq and the GCC penned a joint plan of action in April 2019, agreeing to strengthen the political, strategic, and security coordination between them and to strengthen economic ties in terms of trade, industry, investment, oil, energy, and agriculture, in addition to the private sector.

“This plan of action is considered a tool that provides the optimal ways to go ahead in the bilateral relations between both sides,” Budaiwi said. 

Numerous projects exist between Iraq and the GCC, made up of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. 

Iraq and Saudi Arabia in July 2022 signed an electricity interconnection agreement, which will see Baghdad linking its electric power grid with the Gulf. Budaiwi said that the project was a result of the Iraq-GCC joint plan of action.

“We have the elements, and the road plan exists. What we need is to go ahead in a clear manner to strengthen the bilateral ties on every level,” he added.

Budaiwi also invited the Iraqi foreign minister to participate in the upcoming Iraq-Gulf economic forum in the UAE, saying it would be “the cornerstone of strong relations between both sides”.

Over the last decade Iraq’s ties with the Gulf countries improved significantly. 

Relations had deteriorated under the rule of former dictator Saddam Hussein, particularly when he led the invasion of Kuwait in 1991. 

In 2015 Iraq and Saudi Arabia appointed its first ambassador to Iraq in 25 years and two years later it established the Saudi-Iraqi Coordination Council with the goal of enhancing strategic, economic, investment, security, and cultural ties between Baghdad and Riyadh.