GOVERNMENT’S AGREEMENT WITH A CHINESE COMPANY TO ESTABLISH AN INDUSTRIAL CITY
Baghdad – Iraq Today: 2024/03/18 10:26
The General Company for Iron and Steel in Basra province revealed the government’s agreement with a Chinese company to establish an industrial city with an area of 3,000 dunums, while it saw that Iraq is on the verge of a major industrial revolution.
The general manager of the company affiliated with the Ministry of Industry and Minerals Abbas Khli in a press interview, that “there is great government interest and the highest executive authority represented by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Sudani industrial projects, which have been stopped for more than two decades, and the General Company for Iron and Steel stopped since 2003 before resuming work.”
He added that “the government’s interest does not depend only on setting allocations in the budget law, but there is a personal follow-up from the prime minister and through the minister of industry and minerals, to develop and progress work and achievement, and raise a monthly official position to the prime minister, who follows up and overcomes obstacles in many matters through quick decision-making and even direct contact with the concerned ministers.”
He added that “our company is not the only one specialized in iron and steel, but there are companies in the private sector also produce rebar, for example, and we had a meeting with the Prime Minister about two weeks ago under the auspices of the Board of Advisors, and there is a special committee formed to follow up the development of the national industry and the fact that it was among the demands to protect the national product, and the government and the Council of Ministers were really supportive and decisions were actually issued to protect the national product, especially rebar.”
He noted that “with the large reconstruction and construction movement and the trend to build more than one million housing units, there are factories in Iraq and new factories are currently being built in several provinces, and there is a tendency for the government to contract with one of the large Chinese companies in the field of iron and steel, and it was visited in China by a delegation headed by Minister of Industry and Minerals Khaled Battal, and I was one of the members of the Iraqi delegation, and now there are negotiations during this period and two days ago there was a meeting at the Ministry of Industry and Minerals. ”
He pointed out that “this week we also have meetings with the Chinese company, and this company has been granted three thousand acres of iron and steel land and a large industrial city will be built and this matter enjoys the care and attention of the Prime Minister, and this will make a major industrial revolution within the country in addition to the existing factories, including the iron and steel factory, to meet the local need not only at the level of prices, but in consumer protection and the high quality enjoyed by the Iraqi rebar produced in our company. With high quality, sometimes there is no control over border crossings and some types of rebar that are not within the required specifications are entered.”
He noted that “the iron and steel plant in Basra stopped since 2003 and its capacity after the completion of work will reach more than 600 thousand tons and the contract capacity is more than 500 thousand tons, and we will start production with nodal capacities,” pointing out that “during the next few months we will witness the opening of the steel factory that produces (billet), which is complementary to the (rolling) plant and will meet Iraqi production an important aspect of the national need.”
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