PM: Determined right standards for financial transfers, citizens will see reforms

politics

18-02-2023, 22:02

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INA - BAGHDAD

Prime Minister Muhammed S. Al-Sudani affirmed on Saturday, the government's insistence on adopting the correct standards for financial transfers and that the Iraqi citizen will see the importance of the economic reforms adopted by the government, while explaining the most prominent course of his meetings with political and security officials around the world on the sidelines of the Munich Conference on Security and Politics.

"The Munich Conference on Security and Politics is one of the important conferences in the world and the attendance in it is from different countries of the world. The security aspect took a large part in concerns, conversations and bilateral meetings at the level of groups as well as the opening sessions," said the Prime Minister in an interview with Al-Iraqiya TV channel, was followed up by the Iraqi News Agency - INA.

He explained, "Iraq clarifies, through the conference, first its reading of the security situation in the region and the affirmation that Iraq's security is a guarantee for the security and stability of the region and, as a result, the whole world. We showed through this presence the possibility of our security services and their growing capabilities in Counter-Terrorism and pursuing Daesh gangs everywhere."

"We emphasized that today, Daesh does not have a presence through which it controls an area on the ground or maintains a place, but rather it is defeated and terrified gangs pursued by our security services. We demonstrated the importance of cooperation and exchange of information between our security services and their counterparts in the region and the world. We also stressed the importance of having an international response in this regard. We also focused on supporting Iraq in retrieving wanted persons and those accused of terrorism cases. Another important aspect which is also stopping the financing of terrorist gangs, which has been indicated to us through our intelligence information about the existence of this funding from many countries, which contributes to the increase in the activity of these gangs," he highlighted.

The Prime Minister affirmed, "The forthmentioned is a message that we made clear during our 26 meetings within 48 hours, during which we received at our residence in Munich senior officials of the security services and politicians at the level of prime ministers and ministers of several countries around the world, as well as officials of international organizations."

On the outcome of these meetings, Al-Sudani explained, "The officials we met showed understanding, real support, and agreement with the Iraqi vision in the security and political reading of the region. This is an important factor and one of the goals of our participation in the Munich Conference through these meetings, in addition to bilateral meetings of members of the Iraqi delegation. In general, the message of Iraq. The vision of the government reached these important parties. This is something essential and a factor in the security and political understandings."

Regarding the government's priorities in its ministerial program, Al-Sudani explained that "the government took into account all the circumstances that Iraq has been through since 2019 and the accompanying processes and practices that expressed the popular rejection of many forms of living, service and economic performance. We were part of that stage in different locations and we took it by formulating it according to priorities in the government program. These were not set arbitrarily, but came according to an accurate diagnosis of the hopes of the Iraqi people in combating poverty, creating job opportunities, eliminating unemployment, improving services, implementing projects, whether lagging behind or directing new projects, in addition to combating financial and administrative corruption that threatens all development plans and reforming the economy."

"These represent the talk of the street, and it affects in one way or another the entire aspects of life in the country. It has become an entitlement because staying in front of these challenges and leaving these priorities without attention will definitely affect the overall living, service and economic matters. We also found that our priorities reached the ears of all the international bodies. They understand and work with us in the light of priorities," he included.

Prime Minister went on, saying: "When we talk with international officials whom we met about combating corruption, we place before them the entitlement of a commitment to assist Iraq in handing over wanted persons and recovering funds. Also, when we talk about the file of economic reforms, we assure them that we need the assistance of international financial institutions to provide us with proposals that enable us to support this reform."

Regarding his meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the Prime Minister said, "We found clear understanding and support for our economic reforms. During the meeting, we demonstrated our determination to reform the financial and banking system. We asked for flexibility to support the implementation of the reforms that were supposed to be implemented in the past two years by the previous government. We also affirmed that there will be no return to distorted trade of money laundering and smuggling."

He stressed that "the government is insisting on adopting the correct standards for financial transfers and clean trade, and that the citizen will realize the importance of these reforms in the short term. The international institutions will make sure that Iraq adopts the correct standards in its financial and banking system."

In terms of the climate change matter and its challenges, Al-Sudani indicated that it "affected Iraq through water scarcity and increased desertification. The associated gas burning problem also had clear effects that caused it, and the problems of climate change are a serious threat to the environmental situation in Iraq."

"Tackling the effects of climate change has been placed at the top of our priorities during our discussion with various international officials, whom we met on the sidelines of Munich conference. They expressed their willingness to support Iraq with modern practices and technologies to address these effects," he concluded in his statements.