War-battered Iraq says it’s ‘open for investors’

War-battered Iraq sought yesterday to attract international investors to rebuild the country, offering hundreds of projects and touting extensive legal guarantees.“Iraq is open for investors,” declared Sami al-Araji, chairman of Iraq’s National Investment Commission, on the second day of a major reconstruction conference in Kuwait.The government in Baghdad says it needs nearly $90bn to rebuild devastated homes, schools, hospitals and economic infrastructure after three years of war against IS.World Bank officials joined Iraqi government representatives yesterday in Kuwait City to seek pledges from more than 2,000 representatives of international firms in attendance.Araji said that Iraq, which has been either at war or under international sanctions since 1980, is offering projects in almost every field of the economy — from oil to agriculture.He gave a brief introduction on 212 projects of various sizes available for local and international investors, whom he promised will enjoy a high degree of legal protection.The projects introduced include building oil refineries and developing oilfields, in addition to massive housing and industrial ventures as well as at least four power plants. Other projects included building and rehabilitating airports, railways, metros and roads.Araji said the country is offering as many as 86 projects in the agricultural sector, many others in the health and education sectors, in addition to key ventures in tourism.Iraq is also planning to establish four economic zones, he said.The plan spans the next 10 years and Iraq announced on the opening day of the conference that the country needs investments worth $88.2bn, of which $22bn were required immediately.Non-governmental organisations on Monday pledged $330mn but the main commitments are expected to be made by about 70 countries on the final day of the conference today.Iraqi and World Bank officials yesterday talked up legal guarantees available in post-IS Iraq, pointing to an investment law that offers ownership, unlimited cash transfers and tax breaks, among other benefits.Nizar Nasser Hussein, the head of the legal department at the National Investment Commission, said the latest version of the law does not distinguish between foreign and Iraqi investors.“Foreign investors can establish Iraqi companies,” he told AFP, adding that investors would be given lease contracts for 50 years, renewable for a similar period.In addition, investors will be exempt from customs duties and income tax for 10-15 years, Hussein said.Araji said investors in Iraq will find “high risks, but high returns”.Meanwhile, the United States urged members of the coalition fighting Islamic State yesterday to help rebuild Iraq or risk the reversal of the gains made against the group there.The US leads the coalition and hopes that after a three-year fight to defeat the militants it can count in large part on Gulf allies to shoulder the burden of rebuilding Iraq. The US appreciates the “generous contributions” of coalition members over the past year but more is needed, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told a coalition meeting in Kuwait.“If communities in Iraq and Syria cannot return to normal life, we risk the return of conditions that allowed ISIS to take and control vast territory,” he said, using an acronym to refer to the group.“We must continue to enable hospitals to reopen, restore water and electricity services, and get boys and girls back in school.” The US is not expected to make a direct government contribution at the conference, however. “It’s not in the question of a pledging thing where we go out with requests, it’s underscoring — there is a need for support.It’s investment, it’s private company engagement, it’s DFI,” a senior state department official travelling with Tillerson told reporters on Monday.The term DFI generally refers to development finance institutions such as multilateral development banks.“But it is also — and there are Arab donors willing to help and support — focus your efforts on those areas where it actually achieves something in terms of stabilisation and countering foreign influence.”Tillerson also said Washington had decided to provide an additional $200mn of aid to stabilise liberated areas in Syria.At the same time, Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance was ready to answer a US call for it to expand its small training mission in Iraq to support reconstruction.US Secretary of Defence Jim Mattis sent a letter to Nato last month calling for a formal Nato train-and-advise mission, Reuters reported, part of President Donald Trump’s campaign for the alliance to do more against militants.US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson speaks at a press conference on the sidelines of a ministerial meeting in Kuwait City yesterday, gathering representatives of member states of the US-led military coalition that has been battling the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. The US appreciates the “generous contributions” of coalition members over the past year but more is needed, Tillerson said.