EU: The Iraqi government has achieved development in international investment

Baghdad-INA
The European Union announced  on Wednesday, that the Iraqi government has achieved progress in international investment, while noting that it sets an example of cooperation with international legal standards.

The European Union Ambassador to Iraq, Thomas Seiler, said in his speech during the launch of the National Investment Commission conference in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme, entitled (Mediation, New Horizons for Facilitating Business and Retaining Investors in Iraq), followed by the Iraqi News Agency (INA): “I congratulate the Iraqi state and business leaders on the achievement the great Iraqi agreement represented by the signing of the Singapore Agreement on Mediation," noting that "this agreement is considered a basic international treaty that seeks to reach a settlement between the conflicting parties."

He added, "One of the points of importance for the Iraqi government is the development in international investment as well as commercial transactions, taking into account that disputes may arise due to differences between parties across countries therefore, when this happens, the parties need an appropriate method to resolve these disputes in an efficient manner and in an appropriate time, and thus mediation it is the one who does this, as it provides an opportunity for the parties to resolve the problem effectively when disputes arise it also gives an opportunity for the parties to maintain working relationships, which is consistent with the best interest of investors as well as local companies who seek to move forward with investment operations, which are extremely important for Iraq."

He explained, "By signing the Singapore Agreement, Iraq clearly sent a signal about its commitment to developing mediation infrastructure, and therefore this requires the adoption of legislation to enforce mediation operations that occur based on approvals issued by Iraqi courts and are applicable to the parties, as well as the list of countries joining this growing agreement, which is recently represented with the accession of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Jordan and Iran."

He continued: “After Iraq ratified the New York 2021 Convention, we welcome the great efforts to adopt the mediation law and I believe it will be launched soon,” noting that “the issue of ratification is extremely important and therefore the government of Iraq gives evidence and example of parallelism and cooperation with international legal standards as well as through... Adopting these effective alternative dispute resolution mechanisms is very important for promoting investment as well as economic development and stability."

He pointed out that "Iraq has made great progress in the United Nations program as well as through international programs," stressing "the Iraqi government's continued support for this process."