Amending the Investment Law…the first step to combat corruption and develop the country’s economic sectors
Amending the Investment Law…the first step to combat corruption and develop the country’s economic sectors
1-11-2025
Information/Report..
Amidst talk of many government facilities to develop the investment sector in Iraq, the parliament is moving towards making amendments to the investment law in order to keep pace with the need and solve the problems it suffers from after many years of its legislation.
Investment Law No. 13 of 2006 consists of 37 articles divided into several axes and paragraphs that regulate investment work in all economic sectors within the country.
Member of the Parliamentary Economic Investment Committee, MP Mohammed Al-Ziyadi, confirms that the amendment of the Investment Law came to consider many unclear points in the implementation of the law and the granting of investment licenses to unauthorized parties. The process of granting exceptions from the higher government committees in the Prime Ministry must also be re-corrected.
Al-Ziyadi said in a statement to Al-Maalouma Agency, “His committee submitted the amendments related to the investment law to the State Council to study them and then submit them to the House of Representatives to approve the amendments and return them to Parliament for the purpose of legislation.”
He said, “The amendments to the investment law were made with the approval of the political blocs, and they are determined to amend the law during this year to be a unified investment law in the country.”
He added, “The amendments to the investment law will abolish all investment bodies in ministries and governorates and abolish the method of exceptions, which will achieve positive results for citizens, in addition to eliminating corruption.”
He pointed out that “the committee is seriously following up to urge the State Council to complete the study of the amendments and send them to the Council of Ministers for approval and submission to Parliament.”
It is noteworthy that the reasons for amending the investment law all come in light of the deterioration of the country’s infrastructure and the spread of corruption in state institutions, whose population is close to 43 million people, while the government is looking to introduce the private sector into new investment experiences such as the energy sector and the health sector, in addition to new investment opportunities for integrated cities on the outskirts of the capital that can attract hundreds of thousands of residents directly.
For his part, the economic expert, Nabil Al-Ali, confirms that, as many years have passed since the law was enacted, there is a need to make amendments with the change in the investment environment because it has begun to suffer from some weak points that must be reviewed, the most important of which is the issue of bureaucratic complexity represented by administrative approvals and their ramifications among state departments, as in each governorate there is an authority affiliated with the National Investment Commission in Baghdad.
Al-Ali said in a statement to Al-Maalouma Agency, “If the law is amended and includes positive solutions to the problems, it will have a positive impact on the flow of investments to Iraq, which needs various large projects, especially for power generation stations using renewable energy, in addition to the need for real estate and infrastructure projects due to the housing crisis with the rise in land prices and construction costs.”
In 2006, Iraq witnessed the approval of the first investment law, No. (13), which is represented in the establishment of the National Investment Commission, from which branches are established in all Iraqi governorates. It is concerned with attracting local and international investments in order to improve the country’s service and infrastructure reality and create job opportunities for Iraqis.
This law did not succeed in achieving any of the goals for which it was enacted, according to many experts.
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