Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Chairs the 13th Morning and 14th Evening Sessions of the Ministerial Council for Economy

On Monday, May 12, 2025, Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister and Chairman of the Ministerial Council for Economy, Mr. Fuad Hussein, chaired the 13th (morning) and 14th (evening) sessions of the Council, held at the Council’s headquarters. The two sessions were attended by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Planning, as well as the Ministers of Finance, Agriculture, Industry, Labor and Social Affairs, the Secretary-General of the Council of Ministers, the Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq, the Deputy Oil Minister, the Vice Head of the National Investment Commission, and the economic and legal advisors to the Prime Minister.

The Council discussed items on its agenda and adopted appropriate decisions accordingly.

Additionally the Council hosted the Head of the Central Organization for Standardization and Quality Control Authority (COSQC) at the Federal Ministry of Planning, the Director General of Industrial Development and Regulation at the Ministry of Industry, the Head of the Standardization and Quality Control Authority in the Kurdistan Region, and an advisor from the Region’s Ministry of Interior, who are members of the Diwani Order Committee No. (79), tasked with evaluating and aligning goods and contractor classification regulations.

The Council heard a detailed presentation from the head of COSQC on the committee’s work and its recommendations, which were unanimously approved. These recommendations aim to facilitate the inspection of goods entering through official border crossings. Key recommendations include:

• Recognition by the Kurdistan Region’s quality control authority of tests conducted by the federal Central Organization for Standardization and Quality Control Authority and officially authorized inspection companies, for goods and products imported via official border crossings.

• Inspection and monitoring of goods entering through officially recognized border points in the Kurdistan Region by the regional quality control authority and duly authorized inspection companies.

• The region’s quality control authority shall apply the approved standards, including technical requirements issued by the federal Central Organization for Standardization and Quality Control Authority, in addition to other recommendations regulating inspection operations at border crossings.

Regarding contractor classification instructions, the Council approved the joint minutes, will be reviewed through the company’s capital documents, the number of engineers, legal consultants, and accountants, in addition to the tax tax clearance, and social security. These documents will be submitted through the Region’s Registrar of Companies.

The Council also assigned the Federal Ministry of Planning to notify previously classified companies to regularize their status within a maximum period of three months for active contractors.

It was agreed that identity cards issued by the Region will be valid for 90 days from the date of the minute, during which the Region shall provide the federal government with data on active contractors, including names, classification, and validity dates.

The Council also hosted the Technical Deputy Minister of Planning to review the ministry’s procedures and the current status of stalled or delayed projects, investigate the causes of delays, and explore suitable solutions. The Deputy Minister presented a report on the federal government’s measures to implement the national poverty reduction strategy, which is considered a critical challenge to development and progress.

The report highlighted a decline in the poverty rate from 20.5% in 2018 to 17.6% in 2024, and a drop in unemployment from 16.5% in 2021 to 13.4% in 2024.

The Council approved a request from the Ministry of Agriculture’s Board of Opinion to donate 32 tons of confiscated barley to the Ministry departments for use as animal feed.

Additionally, The Council approved the Ministry of Planning’s proposal to hire individuals with disabilities as part of the required quota for contractors (both Iraqi and foreign). It was emphasized that the quantity tables and specifications for buildings and related additions (such as pathways, directional signs, etc.) must be included as part of the work scope in tenders.

The Council also approved the promotion of the supplies order to construct a bypass road in Al-Shinafiyah, along with the preparation of designs for a concrete bridge over the Euphrates River and the new bypass road approaches.

Furthermore, the Council recommended that the Cabinet approve the final accounts for the year 2017, taking into account the observations of the Federal Board of Supreme Audit. The Council also agreed to increase the cost for the construction of the Babylon Directorate of Nationality building as part of the regional development projects for Babylon Province.

Additionally, the Council approved the Ministry of Oil’s request to set the price of vacuum gas oil supplied to licensed industrial plants at 300 IQD per liter, with a review to take place six months after the decision’s implementation.

In the same context, the Council approved adjusting the price of gas oil sold to the Christian, Yazidi, and Mandaean Religious Endowments to 400 IQD per liter, down from 750 IQD.