IMPORTS AND DEPENDENCE ON OIL ARE OBSTACLES TO IRAQ’S ACCESSION TO THE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION
Membership in the World Trade Organization allows access to international trade policies. Despite the economic policies that Iraq has adopted over the past two decades in terms of international openness and the pursuit of establishing modern economic and legislative rules, attempts to obtain a seat in the World Trade Organization have not succeeded so far, noting that Iraq obtained observer status in the organization in 2004.
The financial advisor to the Prime Minister, Dr. Mazhar Mohammed Salih, said: The Iraqi economy lacks regulatory and supervisory regulations in the scope of trade relations and international requirements according to internationally approved standards.Supporters of joining the World Trade Organization believe that this path allows member states of the organization to have broader access to global markets, while membership in the World Trade Organization guarantees access to international trade policies.
Salih indicated that there is a lack of some important economic legislation, especially those related to the rights of workers in the private sector, the field of social security and trade union organization. He referred to the existence of two restrictions that weaken Iraq’s role in the international organization: the first is that Iraq is an importing country and does not have the competitive ability to export, and the second is the almost total dependence on oil.
For his part, academic Dr. Amr Hesham explained that supporters of joining the World Trade Organization have a number of reasons that encourage joining, including that international trade agreements provide broader vital access to global markets in the areas of goods and services, and the agreements and their rules create a commercial climate that allows for a reasonable degree of commercial forecasting, thus achieving the goal of preparing marketing and export plans.
He explained that trade agreements include obligations and rights, and the exercise of the rights contained in the agreements is limited to member states in the region and no one else, and resorting to the Trade Dispute Settlement Body imposes seriousness in applying the rules to all parties with the existence of a special mechanism to take punitive measures in the event of non-implementation.
Hesham pointed out that membership in the World Trade Organization guarantees access to other trade policies, and the procedures they include that may affect access to markets, and the extent of their consistency with international agreements, and participation in future negotiations in a way that ensures the defense of commercial interests that concern those countries, and the formulation of new agreements approved by ministerial meetings.
The World Trade Organization (WTO): An intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade among nations. Governments use the organization to establish, review, and enforce the rules governing international trade. The organization formally began operations on January 1, 1995, under the Marrakesh Agreement, replacing the GATT of 1948. The WTO is the world’s largest international economic organization, with 164 member states representing over 98 percent of world trade and global gross domestic product.
[via PDK] “Deputy: Smuggling of oil derivatives has shrunk by 80% in Iraq”This is also about the pending approval of the HCL. It is also about securing the borders. I think it is huge. They are securing the financial borders in Iraq. I was always told this would occur right before the revaluation.
Question: No matter who wins in the election…do you still think they will release the RV?
MarkZ: None of my sources think that this is going to go wrong. They will be waiting for the announcement then RV things are all going to rip forward. So much does seem to be waiting on the outcome of this election. But I continue to hear positive things...
Iraq is moving forward with or without this election. They have paved the road and done their due diligence. I very much expect the announcement of Iraq and the WTO full membership ascension no later than sometime in December...
Yasser Al-Mutawali notes these days a growing interest in the banking sector in general, both governmental and private. What does this trend mean? This comes amidst a noticeable shift in attention towards the banking sector, through the government allocating significant time in light of its great responsibilities, which means its awareness that all economic activities, including the implementation of strategic projects and means of encouraging investment, require a solid banking sector to implement its economic programs.
This moral support that this interest constitutes requires taking encouraging steps for banks to perform their role to the fullest extent, represented by laws and procedures that guarantee the banking sector, to push it towards implementing its required development programs.
October of this year witnessed many important meetings between the government and representatives of the banking sector, which discussed the requirements for activating banks. It is noteworthy that the focus was on the process of restructuring Rafidain Bank, which is the first bank in Iraq, on which the government relies to play a developmental role that matches the size of its savings, especially since it is the container for government savings, as well as public savings, which are no less important. The goal is certainly to invest this money and put it into the labor market, in a way that achieves rapid capital turnover, and contributes to creating wide job opportunities, through operating other productive sectors, workshops, factories, etc.
However, this interest was not limited to government banks, but rather extended to the same interest in private banks, through meetings and discussing their needs, whether by the government or the Central Bank of Iraq and trying to overcome challenges. Among the results of this government movement represented by the interest in the government sector, and in parallel, it was recently announced that the final touches had been completed for the lending strategy, which comes to correct the course of random, non-targeted loans.
This new strategy is expected to activate various important economic sectors, represented by directing loans towards implementing projects with a strategic dimension, which contribute to stimulating the economy and help diversify sources of income as a final product for banks and correcting the structural distortion in the economy and its transition from a rentier economy to a diversified economy.
This is the summary of the objectives behind the increasing government interest in the banking sector, and hence the realization of the importance of the banking sector in achieving sustainable development.
In addition to the readiness to launch the activity of “Riyada” Bank to support small projects within the objectives of providing job opportunities for unemployed youth, as well as providing some market requirements for goods, commodities and products that reduce the import process that absorbs foreign currency. There is no doubt that launching trading in the third issue of government bonds (Injaz) involves achieving the same reform and development goals, and falls within the government’s interest in the banking sector, which will contribute to their sale and trading.
Article: "Iraqi Priest Prays for Trump’s Victory: Calls on God to Send a Strong Leader to Protect Persecuted Christians and Bring Peace to the Middle East"
Quote "In a heartfelt prayer on the eve of the U.S. presidential election, an Iraqi priest publicly appealed for divine intervention, asking the Lord to bring a strong leader to the United States
—one who would protect persecuted Christians across the globe, particularly in the Middle East."
The Council of Ministers, headed by Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, issued today, Tuesday (November 5, 2024), during the 45th ordinary session, a number of new service, economic and urban decisions.
The media office of the Prime Minister said in a statement received by Baghdad Al-Youm that “the Sudanese chaired, on Tuesday, the 45th ordinary session of the Council of Ministers, in which they discussed the latest developments in the country, and the vital files related to the priorities of the government program were deliberated, as well as considering the topics on the agenda and taking the necessary decisions on them.”
As part of the Council of Ministers’ follow-up to the preparations for conducting the census in Iraq, on November 20, the Council approved the following:
1- Affirming compliance with the decision of the Federal Court (73/Federal/2010) on the general population census.
2- The census is carried out in the disputed areas by a joint team of the three nationalities (Arab-Kurdish-Turkmen), and an individual from the Christian religion is added to the group in the Christian-majority areas.
3. The Statistics Authority and the Kurdistan Region Statistics Authority of Iraq, in cooperation with the Federal Ministry of Interior, compare the data tables of the following ministries with the census results in:
A. Ministry of Interior records, 1957 census and updates.
B. Ministry of Commerce records and data of the Ministry of Immigration and Displaced Persons.
4. The results of the general census and the data boycott of the census in the records contained in paragraph (3) shall be the competence of the Federal Ministries of Planning and the Ministry of Planning in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, according to the joint agreement, where a special register for these areas shall be organized that includes the results of the data boycott, and the Federal Ministry of Planning and the Ministry of Planning in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq shall keep the copy of this record.
5- Commitment to organizing statistical tables on the numbers of deportees, emigriates and displaced persons in disputed areas and other governorates and according to official holdings.
6- The Kurdistan Region Statistics Authority of Iraq sends a technical team in the main census operations room to review and follow up the progress of the census processes and check on the integrity of the procedures permanently, until the end of the process.
7- The commitment of the Kurdistan Region Statistics Authority of Iraq to immediately start training enclerators with intensive courses in preparation for the general census of population and housing on November 20, 2024.
The Council of Ministers approved the proposal to amend Article (12/II/c), of the Tripartite Budget Law No. (13 of 2023), to include the following:
1- The Federal Ministry of Finance shall compensate the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq from sovereign expenses for the cost of production and transportation, for the quantities of oil produced in the region that are received by the Oil Marketing Company (SOMO), or the Federal Ministry of Oil in accordance with paragraphs (a) and (b) of this item, provided that the fair guessing costs for production and transport for each field are calculated separately, from a specialized international technical advisory body, determined by the Federal Ministry of Oil in agreement with the Ministry of Natural Resources in the region, within (60) days from the entry into force of this law, and in the event of no agreement within the said period, the Federal Council of Ministers shall determine the aforementioned advisory authority.
2. The aforementioned consultant shall be submitted in the preceding paragraph, the cost of production and transportation provided to the Federal Ministries of Oil and Finance and the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq, and shall be approved for the purposes of this law. The calculation of the said compensation shall be based on the said cost of the barrel multiplied by the number of barrels received in accordance with paragraphs (a) and (b) of this item, and the Federal Ministry of Finance shall pay the amounts to the Government of the region.
3. Immediately proceed with the delivery of the oil produced in the Territory to the Oil Marketing Company (SOMO), or the Federal Ministry of Oil in accordance with paragraphs (a) and (b) of this clause. The cost of production and transportation shall be compensated by the Federal Ministry of Finance as an advance, at the rate of (16) dollars per barrel, to be settled later after the completion of the specialized technical consultant mentioned above, and retroactively from the date of the delivery under this amendment.
As part of the government’s direction to develop civil defense work in Iraq, the Council of Ministers approved the allocation of (25) billion dinars for the Ministry of Interior to establish civil defense detachments with a number of (100) in Baghdad and the governorates / second phase, from the emergency reserve in accordance with the provisions of the Tripartite Budget Law, and coordination between the Ministries of Interior and Planning, to provide the Ministry of Finance with details of the addition to the required transfer of the said amount.
In the same context, the Council of Ministers approved direct contract with the Chinese company (SANY) to purchase extinguishing wheels for (18) wheels, an exception to contracting methods in the implementation of government contracts, and the exception of the aforementioned wheels from Cabinet Resolution No. (68 of 2016) as amended.
The Council also approved the formations of the Ministry of Interior with independent budgets to contract directly with the Police Martyrs Fund; to secure their needs for the allowances produced from the fund above and other equipment that are processed through it, with the exception of the contracting methods in the instructions for the implementation of government contracts No. (2) of 2014.
In the field of government support for the educational and educational sector, the Council of Ministers approved the amendment of its decision No. (24285 for the year 2024), to include an increase in the percentage of admission of first students from graduates of the institutes from (10%) to (20%) for admission to all universities, and in corresponding or nearby specialties to allow students from the institutes to apply to complete their initial university studies.
In the process of supporting the health sector with specialized human resources, the Council of Ministers approved the legal status of the development of institutes of higher health professions in the governorates with two institutes in Baghdad governorate (Al-Shala and Al-Mahmoudiyah), and one institute in each of the governorates; Babylon, Diyala, Diwaniyah, Salah al-Din (Judjadiya Balad), and Muthanna, without prejudice to the fundamental re-investigation and amending the system in force retroactively, and the Council of Ministers may develop institutes in the districts upon the proposal of the Minister of Health, with an exception to the system of the First Amendment to the Law of Higher Health Profess Institutes (3 of 2011).
Within the framework of supporting the national industry and the private sector, the Council of Ministers approved the provision of a sovereign guarantee, with the value of the interest on the loan for a period not exceeding (10) years, for the purpose of establishing a glass manufacturing plant, in cooperation with the two lenders (Aka Bank and Komarzi Bank).
In the same context, the Council approved the coverage of the plastic granules material (both milled and granules) by the Council of Ministers resolution (24413 of 2024), to be the customs duties of (0.05%).
In the field of administrative reform and evaluating the performance of officials in government institutions, the Council of Ministers approved the appointment of 4 directors general in various ministries, based on the performance evaluation criteria adopted by the Council.
The Council also approved the selection of Ms. Islam Hassan Al-Saadi as a sixth member of the Board of Trustees of the Iraqi Media Network, and the recommendation to the House of Representatives to vote on her in accordance with the Media Network Law.
As part of the Council’s follow-up to complete the lagging projects and proceed with infrastructure projects, the Council of Ministers approved the following:
1- Developing a component (equipping medical devices and supplies), within the project (emergency hospital in Rania / Sulaymaniyah), and increasing the total cost of the project.
2- Increasing the total cost of the project (demolishing informal buildings (411) buildings, and rebuilding alternative schools (229) schools (in the traditional construction method) and (182) schools in the concrete construction method in Baghdad and the governorates.
3- Increasing the total cost of the project (the construction of the North Nasiriyah Bridge and its approach / the first phase).
4- Increasing the total cost of the project (preparing alternative sites, demoliting and establishing the second phase of developing the martyr Muhammad Baqer Al-Hakim Hospital in Baghdad).
5- Inclusion of a project (establishment of a public hospital with a capacity of (100) beds in Ali Al-Sharqi District / Maysan Governorate (Infrastructures) in the investment budget tables of the Ministry of Health for /2024.
The Council of Ministers considered the other topics on its agenda and approved the following:
First/ Approving the draft law of the fifth amendment to the Civil Aviation Law No. (148) of 1974, and referring it to the House of Representatives, based on the provisions of the Constitution, or withdrawing the draft civil aviation law issued according to the Council of Ministers Resolution (24441 of 2024) and its amendments from the House of Representatives.
Second, adjusting the price of gas oil processed for the wheels and generators of the Iraqi National Paralympic Committee to become 400 dinars, instead of 750 dinars per liter.
Third, the Ministries of Commerce, Industry and Minerals concluded leases with the Independent High Electoral Commission for the warehouses occupied by them, in accordance with the Law on the Sale and Rent of State Funds.
