Trade Minister announces major joint investments between Iraq and China

 
Baghdad-INA
 
Trade Minister Atheer Al-Ghurairi announced on Saturday , major joint investments between Iraq and China, while stressing that Iraq is looking forward to benefit from China's political and economic capabilities.
 
“On behalf of the Prime Minister, we extend our congratulations to the friendly Chinese government and people on the 65th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Iraq and China, as well as founding the Iraqi-Chinese Business Council, and we wish them further progress and prosperity,” Al-Ghurairi told the Iraqi News Agency (INA), during the establishment ceremony of the Iraqi-Chinese Business Council, under the auspices of Prime Minister Muhammad Shia al-Sudani.
 
"The relations of historical friendship between Iraq and China are deeply rooted and both civilizations have outstanding contributions to all human history," he said.
 
“The two countries enjoy deep economic and trade relations resulting in the signing of the Agreement on Trade, Economic and Technical Cooperation in 1997, resulting in a joint committee that held 13 sessions, the last of which was in 2016, which discussed a number of areas of cooperation, including political, economic, cultural, education, and health sectors”, he continued.
 
The minister added, "The People's Republic of China is Iraq's largest trading partner, as the volume of trade exchange between the two countries in 2022 reached approximately 53 billion US dollars," stressing that "Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani paid great attention to bilateral relations with China, through The Iraqi development road project that will be an extraordinary surge in economic growth in the region, as it will transport goods from Europe to the Gulf and vice versa through Iraq.
 
"Iraq looks forward to further cooperation with the Republic of China and further achievements of cooperation, as well as to utilizing its political and economic capacities to meet economic and development challenges and implement the reforms, programs, lines, and projects that the Iraqi Government wishes," Al-Ghurairi confirmed.
 
He stressed that "China is an important and essential partner and the second largest economy in the world, so it was very important for the Business Council to have a presence in this period through its designed agenda," pointing out that "There will be more Chinese investments inside Iraq, as well as investments by Iraqi businessmen and merchants inside China."