Foreign Minister Meets with Investment Companies in Rome
Foreign Minister, H.E. Mr. Fuad Hussein met in Rome with a group of official economic institutions concerned with foreign trade and Italian companies, in an economic meeting sponsored by the Iraqi Embassy in Rome and attended by Iraqi Ambassador to Italy, H.E. Mrs. Safia Al-Suhail.
At the beginning of the meeting, Mr. Hussein presented an overview of the unilateral nature of the Iraqi economy that depends on oil resources to a large extent, stressing the Iraqi government’s endeavor to diversify sources of income by strengthening the role of the private sector and increasing investments to support the Iraqi economy in light of the large resources that Iraq possesses, including oil, gas, agriculture, and tourism.
H. E. also pointed out that work is underway to recover the Iraqi funds frozen in Italy since the time of the former regime, which amount to about (600) million euros plus interest value.
H. E. also stressed the need for Iraq to develop the infrastructure that has been greatly damaged for many years due to wars and policies of the former regime, whereas the doors are now open for international companies, including Italian ones, to invest in Iraq in light of a viable investment law.
The meeting was attended by Italian Export Credit Agency (SACE), Italian Trade Agency (ICE), as well as companies currently operating in Iraq, such as the giant oil company Eni, and Trevi Company working on maintaining the Mosul Dam, and Progetti Engineering Company (PEG).