Masrour Barzani: We can cooperate in drafting an oil and gas law and submit it to Parliament togethe

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[size=52]Masrour Barzani: We can cooperate in drafting an oil and gas law and submit it to Parliament together[/size]

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The Prime Minister of Kurdistan Regional Government, Masrour Barzani, confirmed that his government can cooperate with the new federal government in Baghdad by drafting an oil and gas law and submitting it to Parliament jointly.

This came during his participation in the seventh session of the “Iraq for All” forum, Tuesday (1 November 2022), which was titled “Kurdistan Regional Government Looking to the Future: Strategies, Challenges and Opportunities.”

Masrour Barzani expressed his wishes for the success of the new Iraqi Prime Minister, Muhammad Shia Al-Sudani, in his new mission, noting that "if the Iraqi government wants to succeed, it must increase services and eradicate corruption in the ministries."

The Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government stated that the conflicts between the parties are causing the government to be distracted from performing its tasks and providing services to the people, pointing out that there is an imbalance in various sectors that has reached an extent that requires resolving.

With regard to the outstanding problems between Baghdad and Erbil (the budget, the oil and gas law, and the disputed areas), Masrour Barzani said that cooperation between Baghdad and Erbil is necessary to solve the problems between them, and the Kurdistan Region expressed its readiness for such cooperation.

He added, "We can cooperate in developing an oil and gas law and submit it to Parliament together."

Regarding the disputed areas, Masrour Barzani pointed out that the matter was specified in Article 140 of the constitution, and the federal government did not solve the problem in accordance with the constitution, stressing: “We are ready to solve the problem of the disputed areas, but the federal government has not shown its willingness to do so so far.”

The Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government explained that the existing problems between Baghdad and Erbil are not technical or legal, but rather political, and there are principles agreed upon by the two sides, one of which is real partnership, stressing the need for a real partnership and the distribution of positions and responsibilities to all parties, saying: “If we want to be part of Federal Iraq must obtain all our rights and participate in decision-making.”

Masrour Barzani indicated that “previous governments systematically vacated positions and ministries from the Kurds,” noting that “we had a role in establishing the nucleus of the Iraqi army, we used to make up 28% of it and now we only constitute 2% of the army.”

And he added: “There must be a political will to solve the problems, which did not exist in Baghdad,” and “if the door of Baghdad is open to the Kurds, we are ready to cooperate.”

On the performance of the Kurdistan Regional Government during the past years, the President of the Kurdistan Regional Government stated that “we presented an agenda in the previous period and promised to carry out reforms,” noting that the Kurdistan Regional Government achieved successes and brought about reform, diversification of the economy and progress in the agricultural sector.

Masrour Barzani touched on the automation project of the Kurdistan Regional Government, saying: "All documents in the Kurdistan Region will be electronic by 2025."

He stressed that his government is continuing to diversify the economy and not rely on one type of imports, explaining that non-oil imports are few and not at the required level, and most of Kurdistan Region's imports go to salaries.

Investment opportunities in the Kurdistan Region and attracting investors was one of the topics addressed by the President of the Kurdistan Regional Government during his intervention in the forum, and he said: “We have an investment law, which must be developed more to support foreign investment,” noting that this law protects the rights of investors. As well as the need to ensure security in the Kurdistan Region to attract more investors.

Masrour Barzani, who noted that “the issue of rooting out corruption is related to the system and requires transparency,” noting that “the government needs new hands, but it cannot employ everyone.”

The President of the Kurdistan Region concluded his participation, stressing that "we are working according to the principles set by President Massoud Barzani about democracy and defending the homeland," and "we will not give up our rights established in the Iraqi constitution," noting that "if the constitution is implemented, many problems will be solved."
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