Parliament Knows Nothing About The "Saudi Investment Protection" Law.. What Is Its Impact On Iraq? - Urgent, 27 AUGUST

 Parliament Knows Nothing About The "Saudi Investment Protection" Law.. What Is Its Impact On Iraq? - Urgent

Economy | Baghdad Today – Baghdad  Member of Parliament, Jawad Al-Yassari, confirmed today, Monday (August 26, 2024), that Parliament does not know the details of the Saudi Investment Protection Law that is scheduled to be legislated during the next stage.

Al-Yassari told Baghdad Today that "the Iraqi parliament has not yet reviewed the Saudi investment protection law that is scheduled to be legislated during the next stage," noting that "it is certain that this law will go through several stages of study and discussion before it is passed."

He added, "Iraq has good investment laws, and we do not believe that there is a need to legislate an investment law specific to a particular country," noting that "this step will open the door to the country that wants its own law, and this will be at the expense of Iraq, as there are fears about this matter."

He added: "But there may be agreements to protect investors' money, and this is a natural right for any investor, especially since Iraq is going through conditions that are still unstable."

He continued: "We are waiting for the draft law to be presented to the House of Representatives, which will be submitted by the government, for the purpose of reviewing it and knowing its paragraphs and what they include, so that it can be discussed to determine the extent of the necessity of legislating such a law specific to Saudi investments, and how it is possible to protect those investments with a law that is binding on Iraq to implement."

Iraq is preparing a draft law to protect Saudi investment, with the aim of submitting it for discussion in Parliament, in preparation for its approval in the coming months, with the aim of enhancing economic cooperation between the two countries.

This was announced during a meeting between the Chairman of the Federation of Saudi Chambers, Hassan bin Mujib Al-Huwaizi, and the Chairman of the Iraqi-Saudi Friendship Committee in the Iraqi Parliament, Shaalan Al-Karim, and his accompanying delegation, as part of an official visit to the Kingdom.

Regarding the impact of the law, experts confirm that after its approval, there will be a gradual increase in the level of trade exchange between the two countries, which currently exceeds approximately one billion US dollars per year, with a growth rate estimated at around 10% annually.

On July 18, 2023, the Iraqi Council of Representatives postponed voting on (the draft law to ratify the agreement on the encouragement and mutual protection of investments between the government of the Republic of Iraq and the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia), and it has not been included on the Council’s agenda yet.

Economic relations between Iraq and Saudi Arabia are diverse in different fields, especially in the energy sector; where a $27 billion agreement was signed last year to develop a solar power plant, with the participation of TotalEnergies, and the Saudi company ACWA Power was invited to join part of this deal. LINK