Minister of Investment Kholoud Saqqaf said Tuesday Jordan is looking forward to more Iraqi investments in the Kingdom and to expand existing capital toward building fruitful economic partnerships that benefit both countries. She said Iraqi investments in the Kingdom of about $32 billion contributed to economic development as they were spread over many sectors, mainly real estate, finance, industry, tourism and others. She was addressing a session on the investment environment and laws and facilities provided to Iraqi and Jordanian investors, which was held as part of the Jordanian-Iraqi Business and Finance Forum sessions and organized by the Iraqi Business Council in Amman under the slogan “Building Bridges for Common Prosperity”. The minister pointed out that a new investment environment law embraces equal rights and obligations for local and foreign investors as it offers additional advantages and incentives for projects within criteria taking into account such elements as employment, employment of women, technology and added value. Saqqaf said that an investor’s paperwork takes no more than 15 working days to finish from the date the application was received, and in case of any delay in response, it is considered automatically approved. Federation of Arab Businessmen President Hamdi Tabbaa called on the Jordanian-Iraqi business community to formulate an action plan with a timeline and a clear vision of priorities of the next stage with the aim of enhancing economic relations between the two countries. The focus, he pointed out, should be on the potentials in the two countries and the competitive advantages in many sectors, including construction and contracting, tourism and finance, as well as ambitious ventures, such as electrical interconnection and an oil pipeline between the Iraqi port of Basra and Aqaba in Jordan. “We seek to build integration with neighboring Iraq, not based on competition, through partnerships in broad economic sectors to achieve the common interest”, said Fathi al-Jaghbir, President of the Amman and Jordan Chambers of Industry. Haider Makiya, Chairman of the Iraqi National Investment Commission, said the Iraqi government is keen to offer facilities to attract Iraqi investors, business owners and experts to return to Iraq and seize the opportunities available in many strategic sectors.
Source: Jordan News Agency