Fighting corruption in Iraq is key to boosting investment and restoring public confidence in the political process, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani said at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday.
During a session titled “Spotlight: Iraq,” Mr. Al Sudani said his government, which came to power last October, also wants to tackle unemployment, poverty and public services.
“Economic reform is of course one of our main priorities,” Mr Al Sudani said, while also listing foreign investment and the development of the country’s natural and human resources as key areas the government is working on.
Outlining the work that has been done since he took office in late October with the support of Iran-aligned political factions, Mr Al Sudani said his government is trying to ensure equality for all Iraqis, including religious and ethnic minorities.
He said he expects the dispute over oil revenue sharing between the federal government and Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region to be settled through legislation by the end of the year.
Mr Sudani said corruption was a “serious challenge” hampering Iraq’s reconstruction and undermining confidence in the country’s political process, citing low turnout.
The government has begun tackling the problem by reforming anti-graft bodies, as well as recovering stolen funds, some of which it says were used to fund terrorist groups. This included ISIS, the extremist group that controlled large areas of northern and western Iraq from 2014 to 2017, he said.
Mr Al Sudani said Iraq has defeated terrorism and no longer needs international combat troops on the ground, but rather advisers and experts to train Iraqi forces. However, the country still faces a threat from Syria, where ISIS remains active and thousands of suspected members are imprisoned. International terrorist financing networks, particularly in Europe, are another problem, he said.
Only about 500,000 to 600,000 of the millions of Iraqis displaced by the ISIS takeover and the government’s subsequent US-backed military campaign have not yet returned to their homes, the prime minister said. Many of those who fled to the Kurdish region have now settled there, he said, while Nineveh province and Sinjar region are under reconstruction to allow more people to return.
Speaking of the economy, Mr Al Sudani said the government is reviewing progress in attracting investment from the Gulf and international investors on a monthly basis.
There is continued investment in the oil, electricity and commercial sectors, but more is needed, he said, highlighting gas as an area with high potential.
Iraq also needs to reduce reliance on the public sector for jobs and trade contracts, he said.
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We have a new Social Security and Pensions Law to achieve equality between the private sector and the public sector in Iraq
Mohammed Shia Al Sudani, Prime Minister of Iraq
“We go many ways. On the parliamentary side, we have a new Social Security and Pensions Bill to achieve equality between the private sector and the public sector in Iraq. It’s something everyone looks forward to,” he said.
Besides creating jobs through external investment, the government has also created a $400 million fund to provide small and medium-sized loans to Iraqi investors, he said.
Asked about his recent comments that Iraq could have good relations with Iran and the US at the same time, Mr Al Sudani said neither of Baghdad’s two main allies had expressed any concerns about their position.
Iraq has longstanding strategic, economic and religious ties with Iran, but also sees the US as “a partner in transforming Iraq and fighting terrorism,” he said.
The Iraqi Prime Minister earlier on Saturday held a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, at which Mr. Blinken reaffirmed his support for a stable, secure and sovereign Iraq and Washington’s commitment to work together under the US-Iraq Strategic Framework Agreement. according to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
It said Mr Blinken also “expressed his willingness to support the Prime Minister’s efforts to stabilize and grow Iraq’s economy, including by fighting corruption and money laundering. discussed”.
Mr Al Sudani said Iraq is now a “pillar of stability” in the region and aspires to be “a hub for meeting everyone, every culture in all countries”.
Baghdad also wanted to continue acting as a mediator in talks between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
“This is part of the Iraqi role that we are trying to assert. I hope that very soon we will resume these talks, which have unfortunately been interrupted, and I think there is a serious interest on both sides in doing this under Iraq’s auspices,” he said.
Updated February 18, 2023 3:59 PM
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