The Ministry of Trade has doubled its efforts to join Iraq to the World Trade Organization (WTO) after participating in a wide round of negotiations that pave the way for full membership. These efforts were met with widespread economic welcome, which sees that this approach will achieve a package of important achievements, foremost of which is enhancing development, building capacities, and opening the door wide to the use of the highest standards of governance, in addition to the most important factor represented by the wide openness of global markets to Iraq, the advancement of the private industrial sector, and the improvement of the local product.
According to the Minister of Trade, Athir Dawood Al-Ghariri, the recent negotiations for Iraq constitute “a qualitative event and a confirmation of what the government promised through its program to reform the economic situation, considering the private sector as an essential part and the backbone of the Iraqi economy,” indicating that “all countries are keen on Iraq’s return as a global economic player.”
In support of the recent negotiations conducted by Iraq, the Ministry of Trade also participated in the technical meetings of the UNCTAD regarding the accession of Arab countries to the World Trade Organization in Istanbul, which witnessed, according to the Director General of the Department of Foreign Economic Relations, Riyadh Fakher Al-Hashemi, who represented the Ministry of Trade in these meetings, discussing the outcomes of the 13th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization, the process of Arab countries’ accession to the organization, and how Iraq can benefit from these experiences in its process of accession. The importance of trade in services in supporting the economies of Arab countries and enhancing their growth was also reviewed.
In the midst of this, the Prime Minister’s Advisor for Financial Affairs, Dr. Mazhar Mohammed Salih, believes that “in the midst of the changes in the international commercial and financial space, Iraq has moved to important organizational levels in the transition to a market economy to break the effects of its international isolation by engaging in a strong area of economic liberalism that focused on liberalizing the areas of Iraq’s foreign trade in goods and services and the means of financing them, despite the fluctuations in its organization, as well as the development and expansion of areas of progress achieved in some financial services and improving the environment for foreign investment, which allows foreign banks to operate in Iraq and allows the transfer of capital and currency in a manner that serves Iraq’s openness to the world in the conditions of a difficult-to-handle central rentier economy.”
In a statement to the Iraqi News Agency (INA), Minister Al-Ghariri expressed his “aspiration for the fourth round of negotiations to be held during the first quarter of next year,” stressing that “this acceleration means that the negotiations are proceeding with rapid steps towards Iraq’s accession to the World Trade Organization, considering that Iraq is an important economic bloc and all countries are keen for it to return as an economic player in a multilateral system.”
In addition to the economic gains that can be achieved by opening up to the global market, the economic researcher and consulting engineer, Imad Al-Muhammadawi, believes during his interview with “Al-Sabah” that “joining has many other advantages besides opening up to global markets, represented in “enhancing development, building capacities, and opening the door wide to using governance standards in all aspects of economic activities, in addition to the most important factor, which is opening global markets to the economies of the least developed countries or what are called Third World countries, not to mention improving the financial side of the participating countries in terms of reducing financial risks and removing obstacles facing the participating countries.”
Al-Muhammadi added that joining also constitutes a factor in reducing poverty, by creating opportunities for the unemployed through increasing economic activities and developing both the private and public sectors.
The WTO aims to ensure that foreign companies, investors and governments enjoy stability and predictability, confidence that trade barriers should not be arbitrarily raised, investment is encouraged, jobs are created and consumers can fully enjoy the benefits of competition, choice and low prices. link
