H.E Ambassador of the Republic of Iraq to Japan, Khalil Al-Moussawi, hosted dinner invitation at his official residence for Mr. Sakamoto Takema, Director General of Middle East and Europe Department at Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

H.E Ambassador of the Republic of Iraq to Japan, Khalil Al-Moussawi, hosted dinner invitation at his official residence for Mr. Sakamoto Takema, Director General of Middle East and Europe Department at Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and a number of his assistants.
Ambassador Almosawi stressed horizon and areas of bilateral cooperation have witnessed notable development during the past few years in parallel with the significant improvement of Iraqi situation in general. This fruitful cooperation was reflected in vital projects being implemented by the Agency in Iraq, in many sectors like energy, water projects and strategic infrastructure, as the Iraqi government aspires to restore stability to the newly liberated areas and include projects that facilitate the return of displaced people (IDPs) to their home areas. stressing as well that tourism sector in Iraq is a great interest by Iraqi government, given the increasing number of foreign visitors and tourists from different nationalities, as this sector includes visits to holy shrines and religious shrines that belong to different religions, including (Islamic, Christian, etc.), where about 6 million tourists visit Iraq  per year. More over, there will be an official visit to Iraq by Pope of the Vatican next year, as well as many visits to archaeological sites scattered in all Iraqi provinces, as well as amusement tourist sites in northern and southern Iraq (the marshes).  In order to support this important sector, there is an urgent need to implement infrastructure projects, particularly in archaeological areas and marshes that have been enlisted on the World Heritage List. From his part, Mr. Sakamoto has confirmed that the Agency seriously studied  providing support to tourism sector in Iraq, and it is in the process of drawing up related plans and studies, including proposals dispatching experts and specialists to Iraq and offering Japan’s experiences to develop tourism sector. This step is just the beginning in supporting this sector, and consider ways and other types of support would be available later, given the promising opportunities for investment in Iraqi tourism sector, compared to those in neighboring countries of Iraq.