The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania (CCIR) and the Federation of Iraqi Chambers of Commerce (FICC) on Monday signed a Memorandum of Understanding, marking thus a new stage in the development of bilateral economic relations between the two countries.
The memorandum was signed by the president of the CCIR, Mihai Daraban, and the president of the FICC, Abdulrazaq Al-Zuheere, during a working meeting that took place in Bucharest.
According to a press release from the CCIR, 1,265 companies with Iraqi shareholders are currently active in Romania, with a subscribed share capital of 7.88 million euros. However, the volume of bilateral trade remains below the real potential of the two economies.
"Romania has specialists in the agricultural and agri-food sectors, sectors in which the Republic of Iraq shows a major interest in cooperation. The memorandum signed today creates the necessary institutional framework for the business communities of the two countries to identify and develop concrete partnerships with mutual benefits. We need a major project, of the CORE Project type, to strengthen relations between the two states and to encourage companies to access the markets in Romania and, respectively, the Republic of Iraq. Such a project could substantially transform the dynamics of our trade exchanges. In the context of the sanctions imposed on Russia, the Lukoil company will withdraw from the Romanian market. I invite the Iraqi side to initiate a dialogue with the relevant authorities for a possible cooperation in this strategic field," said the CCIR head, Mihai Daraban, quoted in the abovementioned press release.
In his turn, Abdulrazaq Al-Zuheere, the president of FICC, highlighted the significant transformations facing the Iraqi economy, the main objective of his country right now being to attract foreign investment.
"In the past 20 years, the Iraqi economy has begun a consistent process of diversification, with our main objective being to attract foreign investments and develop international trade. The Iraqi government actively supports this direction through tax benefits for companies that enter into international partnerships and has allocated a budget of one billion dollars to support these initiatives," the Iraqi official said.
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