"Tidbits From TNT" Monday AM 9-13-2021

Sep 13

TNT:

Tishwash: Members of the defense crowd demonstrate in front of the Green Zone gate to demand the payment of their overdue salaries

Hundreds of Defense Mobilization members demonstrated, on Monday, in front of the Green Zone gate, to demand the payment of their overdue salaries.

A security source said in an exclusive interview with "Mawazine News" that "hundreds of (the defense crowd) affiliated with the owners of the Ministry of Defense, organized a mass demonstration in front of the Green Zone gate in Jadiriyah, in the center of the capital, Baghdad, to demand the payment of their overdue salaries for several years."

The source added, "The area surrounding the place of the demonstration witnessed a great momentum and a massive influx of thousands of demonstrators from the Defense Mobilization and clan members towards the gates of the Green Zone, to demand their rights, amid strict security measures."

He pointed out that "the forces of order entered into a warning C, in anticipation of any security chaos that might occur near the Green Zone." link

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Tishwash: What hinders the passage of the oil and gas law.. Parliamentary energy answers

Today, Sunday, the Parliamentary Energy Committee revealed the reason for not passing the oil and gas bill during the current parliamentary session, while indicating that the law has not been presented to the committee so far.

Committee member Zahra Al-Bajari told the National News Center website that “the main reason that prevented the passing of the oil and gas law during the current parliamentary session is the political differences over the law,” noting that “the goal of this law is to distribute wealth and divide benefits among the governorates.” Iraq in full justice.

She added, "It was hoped that the oil and gas law would be sent to the committee for discussion, and then it would be sent to the legal committee and then presented to the House of Representatives for reading and voting on it, but political differences prevented that."

The committee member suggested that "the draft law will be presented in the new parliamentary session if there is a real political will to do so. link

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Tishwash: Developing the private sector in Iraq: laws, obstacles and corruption

The government of Mustafa Al-Kazemi in Iraq seemed determined to give the private sector a greater role in the economy, after the state finances experienced a major crisis in light of the Corona pandemic and the decline in oil revenues . However, economists believe that giving way to the private sector may clash with political and partisan agendas.

Finally, the government announced the preparation of a new package of laws aimed at developing the work of the private sector to be a main backbone in the field of strategy to reduce poverty and unemployment in the country and the public sector's participation in responsibility.

The private sector was greatly neglected by successive governments after the American occupation of Iraq in 2003, as influential parties in those governments opened the door to import without oversight, according to their own interests, which caused a decline in local production, which later appeared on the The economic situation of the country, which has turned into a rentier economy.

According to Planning Minister Khaled Battal, the government intends to simplify procedures in order to create an attractive investment environment, especially in the fields of agriculture, tourism, insurance and mills

While the rapporteur of the Parliament’s Finance Committee, Ahmed Al-Saffar, said in an interview with Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, that “the current government cannot carry out the task of developing the private sector, especially since the sector needs great work, and the rest of its life is not enough for that.” .

Al-Saffar said: "In some articles of the 2021 budget, we tried to allow the private sector to enter the process of economic activity, but we were unable to do so, as heavy accusations were leveled against us from some parties."

According to the decision of the Parliament’s Finance Committee, “there are policies from inside and outside directed to keep the Iraqi economy a rentier economy and a market directed to importing from other countries, because the countries exporting to Iraq do not want to activate and develop the Iraqi private sector, so that their interests are not harmed.”

The private sector was greatly neglected by successive governments after 2003, as influential parties in those governments opened the door to import without oversight, according to their own interests.

As for the member of the Finance Committee, Representative Jamal Cougar, he welcomed every measure that serves the private sector, but questioned the extent of the government's ability to implement its steps. Cougar told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, "The sector has gone through a major crisis of government neglect, and the Corona crisis has affected it globally, and so on."

He added that "the private sector is rickety, and any step is part of the treatment, but the most important thing is to support the sector financially with financial liquidity, support existing projects, create new investment opportunities, and move towards supporting local production instead of heading towards import."

He added, "The sector also needs to provide a safe environment, especially since the uncontrolled arms and the widespread militias are reflected in the economic landscape, and have narrowed the private sector.

In turn, the economist, Ali Al-Karkhi, said that revitalizing the private sector could create at least one million job opportunities in less than two years, if there were serious and real government steps.

Al-Karkhi added that "the first laws that the private sector needs is protecting the local product from the cheap importer, controlling import operations, supporting workshops and factories with soft loans, amending labor laws and medium and long-term investment, and most importantly of all protecting traders with capital from the interference of armed groups and parties and any influence another and give them enough security to stop money migrating to neighboring countries and investing there link

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