UAB: to develop the oil sector and reorient the economy

Shafaq News / a member of the Board of Directors of the Union of Arab Banks, Ziad Khalaf, stressed the need for concerted efforts to advance the Iraqi oil sector, highlighting the need to replace the rentier economy that the state is currently adopting.

Khalaf said in the oil and gas conference and exhibition held in Baghdad, attended by Shafaq News Agency, "Frontier Exchange held this important conference to highlight the investment opportunities available in the oil and gas sector in Iraq, especially investment projects in infrastructure such as oil extraction and refining and distribution."

Khalaf stressed "the importance of cooperation between the central government, the banking sector, and international oil companies to improve this strategic sector which is vital for the Iraqi economy."

Khalaf added, "the industrial and commercial sectors, whose revenues represent a large part of the domestic product, can contribute positively and effectively to the oil and gas industry," pointing to "the need to get rid of the rentier economy and dependence on oil only."

He explained, "experiences have shown that countries that depend on this economy do not have the financial capacity to face the challenges, setbacks, and economic crises," calling for "providing better opportunities for the private banking sector in Iraq and expanding its contribution to the national economy to form stable capital and a non-oil dependent domestic product, to reduce Reliance on the only source of income, which is oil."

 "Adopting the policy of bank financing instead of general budget to finance development projects will also contribute to activating the role of specialized financing institutions in a manner that leads to the growth of investments and the developing  awareness to savings among the citizens and directing the national savings towards the development of productive assets in the national economy."