On Saturday, the head of the "Iraq Al-Mustaqbal" Foundation concerned with economic affairs, Manar Al-Obaidi, referred to the latest report of the United Nations Development Program, which revealed the exit of more than 5 billion US dollars in foreign direct investments from Iraq in 2023.
The report showed, according to Al-Obaidi, that Iraq lost foreign investments worth more than 52 billion US dollars from 2013 to 2023.
Al-Obaidi stressed, in a statement received by Shafak News Agency, the importance of foreign investments in stimulating economic growth, increasing job opportunities, and transferring knowledge, stressing that foreign investments are an important source of income for funds not linked to state revenues or local investments.
Al-Obaidi identified the main reasons for the exit of these investments from Iraq, which include the deteriorating business environment, lack of transparency, accumulated bureaucracy, and multiple and conflicting decision-making sources, explaining that the lack of clear laws to protect foreign investors’ funds also contributed to this deterioration.
Al-Obaidi described the private sector support programmes as “weak slogans”, pointing out that the totalitarian and socialist thinking is prevalent in government institutions, which has negatively affected the objectives of investment agencies that have focused mainly on local real estate investments rather than in the fields of energy, infrastructure and productive projects.
Al-Ubaidi stressed that the continuation of socialist and pastoral thinking in government agencies will lead to the continued draining of foreign investments from Iraq.
He stressed the need for a real will to improve the business environment through three basic elements: transparency, facilities, and protection, in order to attract foreign investors and strengthen the Iraqi economy. link
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