Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani – The Opportunity for Arab Economic Integration

The Arab-Chinese summit in Riyadh comes at a time when the world is witnessing major political and economic transformations and conflicts, and it coincides with Iraq passing through a difficult political phase. Therefore, our participation in this summit is of special importance, as it is an occasion to share our government’s new economic vision with our Arab brothers and our Gulf neighbors. And our Chinese friends, which opens up a very large scope for cooperation and joint investment for all countries participating in this summit.
The modern management of the economy is the focus of our government’s work, as we firmly believe that building a strong Iraqi economy capable of achieving the desired qualitative change is based on investing the creativity of the enormous youth energies, and creating great investment opportunities that produce various job opportunities for a country that is characterized by the fact that the majority of its population is young. Investment is within a safe environment, and it also contributes to strengthening and improving the foundations of cooperation with the countries of the world based on the principle of protecting common investment interests. Convergence and integration between East and West, and living peoples and conscious nations are capable of that.
Trade cooperation with China is a given, but Iraq is looking forward to quoting its successful experiences in areas such as combating poverty, as it lifted hundreds of millions of its citizens out of the poverty line, combating desertification and climate change, and moving from a state economy to a market economy. I believe that this summit is an explicit call for economic and investment integration between Iraq with neighboring countries, by benefiting from the Chinese experience in the field of economic integration with the countries of the world.
This economic experience can create a state of Arab economic integration, by taking advantage of the presence of the Chinese trading partner, to develop a sustainable and integrated Arab economy, through the exchange of trade and investment opportunities and technological information.
Our government believes that Iraq’s strategic location, depth, historical heritage, regional weight, abundance of resources, and influence in the world economy give it the right to play a major role that represents its real size in establishing the best relations with countries, on the basis of mutual and complementary interests with neighboring countries, Arab countries, and friendly countries.
* Iraqi Prime Minister