The head of the parliamentary financial committee, Atwan Al-Atwani, confirmed on Monday that the launch of the reform plan for the banks is the beginning of reforming the Iraqi economy.
In a speech during the Iraqi banking sector reform conference, which was attended
by the “Economy News” reporter, Al-Atwani said that “the development of the banking sector is a fundamental pillar for the development of the Iraqi economy away from oil rent.”
The chairman of the Finance Committee called for “diversifying sources of revenue to cover the fiscal deficit.”
He pointed out that “the reform and development process must be taken into account by a movement with international banks to regulate external transfers.”
He stressed that “unofficial border ports cause a waste of public money.”
😊 😊The first article is titled “IRAQ JOINS TIR TRANSIT SYSTEM”.
The global TIR transit system became fully operational in Iraq on April 1, 2025. I want to emphasize that this is happening NOW not months or years down the road.
“The International Road Union (IRU) said that Iraq is poised to strengthen its position as a key trade hub in the Middle East, making goods transport more efficient and secure across the country’s borders and beyond. The initiative connects southern and northern Iraq, also providing an efficient trade corridor linking Asia, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region,
Türkiye and Europe.” If you seriously read and take to heart this news today you can’t help but to say WOW! WOW! WOW! Can you say WOW! WOW! WOW!? Can the news get any better in this direction for opening the doors for trade in Iraq?
Remember I always told you in the past the plan for Iraq is to make it a key trade hub and so now we learn this again in this article this is the goal and the infrastructure is being laid NOW to do just that.
They will need the infrastructure to transport these goods and distribute them to market.
If you look at the map you can clearly see Iraq’s centralized position in the middle east.
😊 😊This next article in today’s news is just as good as the first. It is titled “IRAQ SIGNS CONTRACT FOR NEW ECONOMIC CITY”. The National Investment Commission (NIC) has signed the Task Order for Phase One of developing the Al-Tayeb Specialized Economic Service Zone in Maysan Province, positioning it as Iraq’s first integrated economic city. So, it has begun. They are actually NOW (not years from now) beginning to build these new economic cities (industrial cities). We learned about these industrial cities years ago and so now they are happening. I also want to tie this article of today to the issues we keep hearing about the 2025 budget and its holdups. No it’s now about not wanting to show a RV rate change in the budget (how ridiculous) but instead this is the money needed for these cities that they talk about in all these other articles about the triparte budget for 2023-2025. It is all connected. Get it? This money is needed as an addition to the 2025 budget projected in 2022. Why would Iraq spend billions on this project of these new concept cities if the potential for a big payoff later could not be realized? The contract was signed with U.S. firm KBR, and includes strategic economic studies, investment opportunity packaging, and sectoral planning for the area.
Here is the best part about the news in this article and I quote – “We are told this project aims to establish a major economic hub linked to the Development Road project among other benefits.” Are you beginning to see the synergy?
Then a third article also inline with the first two brings us news of a serious investor in Iraq. This company BlackRock has its hands in just about every large company worldwide in one way or the another. It is a behind the scenes capitalist and company builder. It is a huge company and influences just about everything in our lives, only we don’t realize it. So, by BlackRock acquiring a port in Iraq means they are there do business. They are now just laying their infrastructure for their business model. In the future we will see much more of BlackRock in Iraq. Remember that I said this to you when I bring it up again in the near future.
The National Investment Commission (NIC) has signed the Task Order for Phase One of developing the Al-Tayeb Specialised Economic Service Zone in Maysan Province, positioning it as Iraq’s first integrated economic city.
Key Developments:
NIC Chairman Dr. Haider Mohammed Makiyah stated that Al-Tayeb Economic City will attract global investors across agriculture, industry, tourism, housing, and entertainment sectors, serving as a model for future multi-service economic cities in other provinces.
The contract, signed with U.S. firm KBR, includes strategic economic studies, investment opportunity packaging, and sectoral planning for the area.
The project aims to:
Establish a major economic hub linked to the Development Road project.
Boost Iraq’s economy and provide local employment in Maysan.
Strengthen interagency coordination for smooth project execution.
The meeting was attended by the Governor of Maysan, members of Executive Order Committee 24771, the Maysan Investment Commission, and representatives from the Prime Minister’s Office. Discussions focused on ensuring timely implementation, promoting sustainable development, and creating attractive investment opportunities in Iraq.
Here is a map below of Iraq with its bordering countries. Can you see now why it is considered a central hup? The main Development Road Project is in blue. The pink and green routes are future road projects that go inward from the central core road. The additional routes extent from the initial road to a specific country’s border or ports of entry/exit.
Think of this road project as the U.S. interstate highway or Germany’s Autobaud systems. What is their real purpose? To align with shipping and transportation of goods within a corridor for trucking.
They too where strategically laid out in a corridor from the port of entry/exit (s) to the interior if you care to study their maps. They also have the same main highways going north to south then east to west. Now Iraq is following this plan too only decades later. If you look at the prosperity of the U.S. and Germany,
we can contribute most of it to the ability to transport these produced goods to markets. The U.S. has even gone one step further in deliveries to the home directly with UPS, Federal Express and now Amazon same day deliveries at no extra charge. Trust me as Iraq too with only its 40 million citizens will need these other middle eastern countries for their markets.
Map of Iraq Development Road Project
HOW TO WIN IN ONE OF THE WORLD’S TOUGHEST MARKETS
From my perspective, I see the largest impacts that are going to “drive” everything else for the Iraqi economy are multi-level including the banking sector and with transportation. I have a very hard time separating only a couple factors but these factors stand out as the highest priority. Of course, security too is a given and I believe the may very well be at a level of needed security, not any more or less then in the U.S. or any other developed country. We have already seen the “desire” of the CBI and the GOI to lead these efforts in the many reforms in the banking sector including this huge project of the new First Rafidain Bank as it ties to the Development Road Project.
In today’s news we get more very good news in this direction. Why am I presenting mainly only this kind of news? It’s because of all the news coming from Iraq this is the news. Get it? These are the issues they are now encountering and moving ahead with. Again I am telling you they have moved mostly now from the “Pillars of Financial Reform” that I have talked about with you for years to the now using these reforms to build their economy and bring in the investors. They keep calling this the “next stage”.
So, Iraq seems to have moved on to a “next stage” and we learn about this stage today in the news articles too. There are three articles in particular that stand out on this subject matter of building the Iraqi economy. They deal with mainly with building the infrastructure of Iraq and how this will benefit Iraq and can be used in itself to be profitable, never mind the long-term benefits to other businesses by having this infrastructure in place. Yes, it will help Iraq to grow even more. It is exponential. By this I mean something allows something else and so on and so forth. Then the working connectivity of all the parts together allow for the synergy of the end result – the whole to be realized.
Define Synergy:The interaction or cooperation of two or more organizations, substances, or other agents to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate effects.
ARAQCHI: IRAN WILL NOT SEEK TO RESEARCH, PRODUCE, OR POSSESS NUCLEAR WEAPONS UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi stressed that Iran will not seek to research, produce, or possess nuclear weapons under any circumstances.
The minister said in a press statement that the 2015 nuclear agreement included a fundamental commitment from Iran that still stands and the United States has benefited from it.
He explained that there is not even the slightest evidence that Iran has violated its commitment to the 2015 nuclear agreement.
He stressed that diplomatic engagement has proven effective in the past and can remain effective until now.
He continued that it must be clear to everyone that there is no such thing as a military option, let alone a military solution.
He pointed out that the catastrophic failures in the region, which cost previous US administrations more than seven trillion dollars, speak for themselves enough.
