Iraq seeks $100 billion investment

BAGHDAD: Iraq seeks around $100 billion in foreign investment in transport, energy and agriculture as part of a plan to rebuild parts of the country and revive the economy.

The government’s National Investment Commission published a list of 157 projects it will seek investment for at an International Conference for Reconstruction of Iraq to be hosted by Kuwait Feb. 12 to 14.

Some of these projects are about rebuilding destroyed facilities like Mosul’s airport, while others are new investments to strengthen and diversify the economy away from oil, said an economic advisor to Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi.

“All together, they cost about $100 billion,” the advisor, Mudhar Saleh, told Reuters. Sixteen projects carry a price tag of $500 million or more, according to the list.

Rebuilding homes, hospitals, schools, roads, businesses and telecommunications is key to providing jobs to the young, to end the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people and put an end to several decades of political and sectarian violence.

Iraq declared victory over Islamic State in December, having taken back all the territory captured by the militants in 2014 and 2015.

The United States government will not contribute funds at the conference but will instead encourage investment from the private sector and Gulf Arab allies, US and Western officials said.