After his election as President of the Republic of Iraq… Barham Salih, working on the development of diplomatic, political and economic relations, and put Iraq in the right regional place with neighboring countries, and this was observed and seen in all his visits.
Salih visited several Gulf and regional countries, including Kuwait, Jordan, Iran, the UAE and Saudi Arabia. His visits underscore Iraq’s efforts to build better relations with its Arab, Gulf and regional depth and cooperate with its brothers and neighbors in establishing good neighborliness and respect for sovereignty. And working to enhance the economic and development integration and joint cultural advancement to serve the peoples of the region and promote the concepts of international cooperation.
Talks with Kuwait dealt with ways of establishing railways between the two countries and joint industrial, commercial and economic zones to facilitate visits between citizens of both countries and facilitate the movement of capital to serve the economies of the two countries.
Developing Economic Relations with Saudi Arabia:
The visit of Iraqi President Barham Saleh comes within the framework of the constructive relations between Riyadh and Baghdad and the cooperation and joint coordination between the two countries to strengthen them in many fields. Saleh stressed that Iraq attaches great importance to its relationship with Saudi Arabia, and the latter stresses its keenness on the bilateral relationship as Iraq attaches importance to restoring the cohesion of the the Arab situation.
Salih stressed that Iraq and Saudi Arabia share a number of factors, which are linked by major interests in the region and have the common will to build a real program of action that will restore stability to the region, stressing that Iraq and the Gulf are one case in the face of terrorism and extremism and the return of imbalanced balances in the region and the necessity to activate the cooperation in economic, commercial, agricultural, investment fields and oil sector.
Of the features of the Iraqi economy, it is the most difficult figure in the economic equation in the region, where it has the second largest oil reserves after Saudi Arabia, and the fourth in the world oil production, and the proportion of Iraqi fixed oil reserves are amounted by 112.5 billion barrels, equivalent to 12% ) of the total global reserve, while some experts believe that if Iraq resumed exploration for oil , it would have twice as it currently has of oil reserves, as exploration works have stopped since 1980 (in addition to the vast resources discovered and undiscovered, such as phosphates, sulfur and mercury, and the land of Iraq is filled with natural resources and resources.
Where the head of the Saudi Chambers Sami al-Obeidi expected that the next phase, will see more activity in the field of trade exchange between the two countries, in addition to opening the field of joint investments of companies and businessmen from both sides, and an increase in the flow of Saudi goods and products to the Iraqi market in the light the existence of a desire of Iraqi society towards Saudi product and readiness of Saudi companies to enter the market, and develop economic cooperation relations and promote trade exchange to advanced levels, based on the strong ties and relations between the two countries, indicating that the great potential enjoyed by the two countries will put them in front of a historic opportunity to build an effective partnership to achieve common aspirations, stressing that what binds the two countries, not just neighbors and common interests, but also the bonds of brotherhood, history and destiny.
Al-Obeidi stressed that the development of economic relations between Riyadh and Baghdad would contribute to increasing Saudi exports to Iraq, which will be an important factor for what Iraq represents as a large market.
It is worth mentioning that a number of agreements have been signed earlier that promote economic cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Iraq, including the opening of the port on the border between the two countries, where 85% of the Saudi exports are made through land transport through Kuwait and Jordan, and (15% ) are made by shipping.
Saudi exports to Iraq in 2016 amounted to SR 2.3 billion, about USD 613.3 million. The most prominent products that are exportable to the Iraqi market are foodstuffs, building materials, packaging, pharmaceuticals, Precious metals and jewelries, and chemicals.
The two countries affirmed their desire to support the economic partnership and investment cooperation between Iraq and Saudi Arabia and reach better and wider horizons of cooperation for the benefit of the two countries.
Finally, Iraqi President Barham Salih stressed the need to take into consideration the specificity of the economic situation in Iraq regarding the sanctions imposed on Iran, its impact on Iraq, and Baghdad’s concern about tensions in the region saying “We do not want to harm the Iranian people, we are in a genuine dialogue with Washington to take the specificity of Iraq into consideration, and we do not want Iraq to be burdened with the burdens of those sanctions.”
And regarding the future of economic and trade cooperation with Iran, after the imposition of the US sanctions, Salih said: “Iran is an important neighbor of Iraq, and we have historical, cultural and social ties with it, and the relationship has not been easy in the past and 6here is a big challenge facing us to bypass the past and to move forward towards a new phase and a stable relation between the two countries , stressing the respect for sovereignty first, and then the common interest. ”
Salih stressed that Iraq is in a major challenge and an important stage of its history, and wants to start moving towards the stage of reconstruction, which will be achieved through the adoption of the Iraqi interest first, as a platform for dealing and cooperation with Arab and regional countries.
Salih summed up his visits in on twitter :
“The visit was full of fruitful meetings with our brothers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Iraqi government and the Kingdom will pursue projects that are beneficial to the two peoples in the sectors of energy and investment. The need for of reconstruction and services in Iraq which has just existed from the fight against terrorism, which requires protecting its sovereignty and strengthening its relations with its Arab depth and Islamic neighborhood.”
Economic Studies Unit
Rawabet Center for Research and Strategic Studies