Iraq, Japan sign MOU to enhance Samawa water supply

INA-  Baghdad


Finance Minister Taif Sami and Futoshi Matsumoto, the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Japan to the Republic of Iraq, sign on Sunday a memorandum of understanding and a $300 million loan from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for the project to upgrade Samawah's water supply.

"In implementation of what was stated in the ministerial curriculum, which focused on the need to advocate for valid borrowing for investment projects with economic feasibility and to support the cooperation initiated by the Iraqi government at the economic level with the government of Japan, the Iraqi government began borrowing from the Japanese side to finance a project to improve the supply of water supply in Muthanna province, the city of Samawah," Sami stated in a speech given on the sidelines of the signing that was attended by the Iraqi News Agency's (INA) reporter.

In addition to installing water lines from the main station to the pumping substations and ultimately to the end user, she added, "the project will contribute to the development of the quantity of potable water in this governorate and the effective use of water resources through the establishment of water purification and desalination plants in the city of Samawah, which in turn will contribute to increasing the processing hours and water quality and thus contribute to the stability of the purification of drinking water processed by the project and promote economic and social development in the city."

"We hope that the project will be implemented smoothly and according to the schedule set for the project to serve the public interest and to provide the people of the governorate with drinking water," she continued. "The loan of the project to improve the supply of water supply in Samawah was signed in the amount of more than 45 billion Japanese yen and equivalent to approximately 300 million dollars, in implementation of the Federal Budget Law No. 13 of 2023."

The project aims to provide potable water to the people of Samawah through the establishment of the first large-scale water treatment plant in the province. Upon completion, the project will be able to provide the local population with water for more than 12 hours a day. Futoshi Matsumoto, the Japanese Ambassador to Iraq, confirmed this during the signing ceremony. He also noted that Samawah is a symbol of the close friendship between Japan and Iraq since 2024 marks the twentieth anniversary of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces' deployment in Samawah.

Noting that "the government of Japan has provided a loan from JICA to build about 30 mega infrastructure projects in Iraq so far," he expressed his happiness at "signing the new project for Samawah at this time."

He stated, "We have concentrated especially on the water sector since Japanese assistance for water supply facilities and basic infrastructure have spread from southern to northern Iraq, specifically in Basra, Halabja, Sulaymaniyah, Erbil, and Dohuk."

We look forward to seeing the majority of the five projects including a two-phase loan project for 2024 to be included in the 2024 budget, he said as he expressed gratitude "for the efforts made in revitalizing the Iraqi economy."
He reaffirmed that his country will keep helping the Iraqi government and people in order to improve bilateral ties.