Parliamentary denial and government welcome.. What is the story of the Saudi investor protection law

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[size=52]Parliamentary denial and government welcome.. What is the story of the Saudi investor protection law in Iraq?[/size]

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2024-08-27
The Prime Minister's Advisor for Financial Affairs, Mazhar Muhammad Salih, confirms that there is nothing preventing the signing of an investment agreement with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, especially when there is a desire and objective conditions to issue the necessary legislation to encourage and protect mutual investment between the two countries.[/size]
[size=45]Saleh's statement comes at a time when the Parliamentary Investment and Development Committee denies having a "Saudi Investor Protection" law, despite the Iraqi-Saudi Business Council announcing that Baghdad is preparing to propose a law to protect Iraqi-Saudi investment and discuss it in parliament in preparation for its approval in the coming few months, according to a statement issued by the Federation of Saudi Chambers last month.[/size]
[size=45]“There is no law”[/size]
[size=45]The Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Investment and Development Committee, Hussein Al-Saabari, confirms that “there is no law to protect the Saudi investor within the committee’s work. Rather, the committee is proceeding with the Industrial Investment Law and amending the Investment Law, and this amendment is devoid of those matters.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Saabri noted during his interview with Shafak News Agency, “There is an international arbitration law in Iraq that Iraq signed to attract foreign investment and for the investor to secure his money and project in Iraq.”[/size]
[size=45]He explains, “As any foreign investor who comes to Iraq can have one of the terms signed with him in the contract, that if a dispute occurs, he can resort to the arbitration committee, and the arbitration can be inside or outside Iraq, and this arbitration will be according to the agreements signed by Iraq.”[/size]
[size=45]“No problem with the agreement”[/size]
[size=45]In turn, the Prime Minister’s Advisor for Financial Affairs, Mazhar Muhammad Salih, explains that “first of all, foreign (direct) investment is primarily protected by the legal framework and texts contained in the Iraqi Investment Law No. 13 of 2010, amended by Law No. 50 of 2015.”[/size]
[size=45]Saleh added to Shafaq News Agency, "The aforementioned law includes all the encouraging advantages, especially those related to providing land for the investment project, tax exemptions, and credit facilities, in addition to withdrawing the capital that the investor brought into Iraq and its returns according to the provisions of this law and the instructions of the Central Bank of Iraq and its work is transferable after paying all his obligations and debts to the Iraqi government and all other parties."[/size]
[size=45]He added, “Foreign (indirect) investment can also trade in the Iraqi Stock Exchange in the stocks and bonds listed therein, in addition to forming investment portfolios in stocks and bonds.”[/size]
[size=45]“Despite this, Iraq has previously signed agreements to encourage and protect the exchange of investments with some sisterly and friendly countries, including Law No. 84 of 2017 between Iraq and the Islamic Republic of Iran. A similar agreement was also signed to encourage and protect mutual investment between Iraq and the United Arab Emirates in 2010, and with Japan in 2012,” according to Saleh.[/size]
[size=45]He continued, “It is no secret that the latest guarantees that encourage and protect foreign investment in Iraq are represented by our country’s accession to the Singapore Convention a few months ago. The Singapore Convention on Mediation, officially known as the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation, which entered into force in 2020, is an international agreement that provides a unified and effective framework for the recognition and enforcement of settlement agreements reached through mediation that resolve international commercial disputes.”[/size]
[size=45]Saleh concluded by saying, “Based on the above, there is nothing to prevent signing an agreement with sisterly and friendly countries, including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, especially when there is a desire and objective conditions to issue the necessary legislation to encourage and protect mutual investment between the two countries, as the agreement can provide a positive climate that serves mutual investment between the two sisterly countries, and also provides better opportunities for sustainable development between our two countries in the long term.”[/size]
[size=45]Two sides of Saudi investment[/size]
[size=45]For his part, the economic expert, Karim Al-Helou, attributes Gulf investment, especially Saudi investment in Iraq, to ​​two aspects: material and political. The first is “due to the importance of the Iraqi market and the absence of major strategic projects such as energy, road, agricultural, petrochemical, iron and steel projects, and others. Although Iraq has human and natural resources, it does not have the vision and funds to invest in this aspect.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Halou added to Shafaq News Agency, “As for the political aspect, Iran invested in Iraq politically and militarily without the economic aspect to implement its interests and serve its markets, as trade exchange with it amounts to 13 billion dollars annually. Therefore, there was an international and regional Gulf decision to enter the Iraqi market and compete with Iranian influence in Iraq, after the failure of the Gulf countries in general and the Saudis in particular to win Iraq previously, although the projects in Iraq are guaranteed to be profitable, because it is a huge and more consumer market than the Gulf market.”[/size]
[size=45]He confirms that “Iraq has provided privileges to the Gulf countries in exchange for the entry of investments, especially Saudi Arabia, through financial services, reducing bureaucracy, the one-window system, and others. Therefore, Saudi Arabia will enter with major projects, especially since Iraq suffers from a lack of infrastructure in energy projects, gas extraction, oil and its derivatives, and petrochemical projects.”[/size]
[size=45]Trade volume[/size]
[size=45]It is noteworthy that the Iraqi-Saudi Business Council estimated the volume of trade exchange between the two countries at 5 billion riyals (about 1,333,082,700 US dollars), with an annual growth of 12%, according to the head of the council, Mohammed Al-Kharif.[/size]
[size=45]The council stated in a report seen by Shafaq News Agency last July that the council is working to develop Saudi investments in Iraq, in conjunction with the interest of the private and governmental sectors in the Kingdom in investing in Baghdad.[/size]
[size=45]He pointed out that Iraq is preparing to propose a law to protect Iraqi-Saudi investment and discuss it before Parliament in preparation for its approval in the coming few months, to enhance economic cooperation between the Kingdom and Iraq, according to a statement issued by the Federation of Saudi Chambers.[/size]
[size=45]In December 2023, Iraq and Saudi Arabia signed a partnership agreement in the field of private sector industrial investments, while the Kingdom’s ambassador at the time confirmed that there were many investment opportunities being studied.[/size]
[size=45]In November 2023, Saudi Investment Minister Khalid Al-Falih also announced that the Kingdom is studying the launch of the first free economic zone with Iraq, in the border area of ​​Arar, expressing his hopes that the zone will be the first free economic zone with a neighboring country without taxes, fees or entry visas to serve investors in both countries.[/size]
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