Finance Minister: Intentions to build new industrial cities and lift restrictions on free zones

BAGHDAD-INA

Finance Minister Ali Allawi revealed  there the intention to build new industrial cities and lift restrictions on free zones.

Allawi said in a speech during a workshop sponsored by him under the title: (Free Zones and Industrial Cities Capable of Attracting and Providing Job Opportunities) with the participation of a number of governors and directors of the concerned departments and attended by the reporter of the Iraqi News Agency (INA), that "the free zones are part of the country's trade and economy, in the eighties and nineties, there were no free zones, but after the oil revolution, the free zones entered the Arab Gulf," stressing "the need to benefit from global experiences in the field of economic and industrial cities."

He added: "Our situation in Iraq needs a new look, as we are thinking of establishing new industrial cities and working to lift restrictions in the free zones," pointing to "the importance of finding investment-attracting laws to encourage the private sector.  "

he indicated that "the economic zone must have a leading role for the economy," noting that "there is a law for free zones, and it is necessary to know whether it has succeeded or needs to be modified or integrated."

 He continued, "We must think about how to organize and develop industrial cities, and what legislation is required and the purpose of it," explaining that "the existing obstacles are very big because building new cities is difficult."

 He stressed "the importance of improving the workforce through industrial cities, knowing tax and non-tax incentives, and thinking that cities should be an export base," pointing out "the need to develop a strategy during the next 10 years."

Allawi said that "it is possible to establish new banks through the industrial cities, which play a major role."