Breitling
[Iraq] is trying to be part of the international community.
What's blocking it is the international community won't invite Iraq in if they got Hezbollah or Hamas in their ranks.
We understood from the beginning they had influence from Iran...But if they comply...they can expand their markets. They're simply not doing that.
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.
MarkZ
[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...
FOCUS ON THE BANKING SECTOR
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.
Clare
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."STATUS OF THE RV It’s election day in the USA today and if you have not already voted, please go vote! Today I will not get into the impor...
