Researcher Shatha Khalil *
The Ministry of Planning announced the projects according to the sectors and stages of implementation of both types of investment and development of regions in all of Iraq, indicating the total number of projects until the end of 2017, reaching (4682) projects, and the total cost of a total estimated at (232) trillion and (712) billion Iraqi dinars.
While the amount of funds allocated to them (24) trillion and (828) billion dinars, confirming that (3185) of these projects, either completed, or under implementation, or at the stage of settling accounts, and the remaining (1497) projects either ceased or drawn out of work or not carried out by any means, or a project without starting work in it , or in the stages of declaration, assignment, design and study.
As shown in Figure 1 & 2 below
The ministry’s tasks include developing a detailed framework and proposing strategic projects that require large capital and longer time periods for implementation in cooperation with the rest of the state agencies, studying human development needs to contribute to employment, working and social services for the population, preparing a strategy for alleviating poverty and unemployment, and prepare and propose plans and work programs that contribute to building institutional capacity and developing the human element which is the tool and the axis of achieving development and adopting international and local quality standards. The most important is to follow up evaluating the performance of investment projects implementation and raising the efficiency of implementation.
The Ministry of Planning said that “the projects referred to were distributed by (1684) projects within the investment program at a cost of (204) trillion and (446) billion dinars, while the amount of funds allocated to them (23) trillion and (797) billion Iraqi dinars ,pointing out that the investment projects are projects implemented by the federal ministries while the projects implemented by local governments within the program of development of the provinces noting that their number have reached (2998) projects at a cost of (28) trillions and (266) billion dinars, while their allocations amounted to one trillion and (30) billion dinars. ”
The Ministry added that (791) of the total projects have been completed, and there are (1893) projects in progress and (502) projects in the stage of the settlement of accounts, while the number of projects stopped (1210) projects, and there are (92) projects in which the executing companies were withdrawn and (98) projects have not been started at all, and (27) projects have not been implemented, and (50) projects in the process of advertising and referral, and 18 projects in the design phase, and ( 5 ) projects in the study phase “.
The share of the agricultural sector: Agriculture is the cornerstone for most of the economies of developing countries, especially Iraq as it has a large and important agricultural land, despite the oil wealth, but the importance of agriculture is still existed based on the fact that the oil wealth is not permanent, but is going to disappear sooner or later.
Of these projects, which belong to the agricultural sector, amounted to (198) projects at a cost of (12) trillion and (832) billion dinars, while the allocation amounted to (526) billion dinars, while the number of industrial sector projects (569) at cost (117) trillion and ( 514 ) billion dinar , it was allocated for it (18) trillion and (91) billion Iraqi dinar , and in the transport and communications sector, the total number of projects reached (862) projects at a cost of (23) trillion and (753) billion dinars with a financial allocation of (46) trillion , and (598) billion dinars.
As for the sector of buildings and services, which is one of the weakest sectors providing service to the citizens, housing and shelter suitable for the Iraqi citizen, noting that the poor economic management based on employment and consumption and export of oil and the absence of real productive sectors and inflation in the size of the armed forces and the security services and the public sector reduced the ability of the state to facing changes in the growth of youth employment opportunities or provision of services, in addition to the corruption that depleted the budgets of Iraq without achieving effective return in services or production or buildings, whether industrial or residential, which led to weak ability of the government to provide good services for the people.
Its share was (2069) projects at cost (7) trillion dinar , the allocation was (5) trillion and (314) billion dinar and in the education sector ,the number of projects amounted (983) at a cost of (8) trillions and (606) billion Iraqi dinars, and the allocation of (141) billion dinars.
Economic Studies Unit
Rawabet Center for Research and Strategic Studies