Expert warns of investments exodus from Iraq: $25 billion lost in five years

Shafaq News/ The inflow of foreign investment in Iraq has regressed by about $25 billion over the past five years, the head of Iraq's Future Foundation, Manar al-Obaidi, said in a report on Saturday.

"Foreign investments flow into Iraq during the past five years was a meager -$25 billion," he said, "the exodus of foreign investments can be attributed to the unfavorable nature of the country's investment environment."

Al-Obaidi said that foreign investments entering Turkey, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia, stood at around $200 billion.

"A group of African countries that are known to be among the poorest in the world managed to attract investments valued at more than $34 billion; Ethiopia alone attracted $20 billion in investments."

The main obstacle to foreign investment in Iraq, according to al-Obaidi, is the "uninviting business environment" and "weak investment system that do not resonate with the objectives of the investors".

Al-Obaidi emphasized that foreign investment is the only solution for the Iraqi government to face crises and challenges since it represents a vital source for building a domestic economic system.

The expert said the government should focus on developing strategies that increase foreign investment in non-oil sectors that can contribute to the country's gross domestic product while creating job opportunities.

"The current practice of granting licenses without tuning its objectives with the government may undermine the actual benefit from the investments enjoying huge tax advantage," he concluded.