"Tidbits From TNT" Tuesday Morning 1-11-2022
TNT:
Samson: After the European Union's decision, Iraq faces new financial cooperation opportunities, expanding its economy globally
Positive repercussions on the economy and greater opportunities for bilateral financial cooperation with countries in the world in general and the European Union in particular, the most prominent of Iraq's expected gains after the European Union's decision to remove its name from the list of high-risk countries in money laundering and terrorist financing.
This step will allow, according to specialists, Iraqi banks to open branches in countries of the world in order for the process of following-up funds and making transfers smoothly away from the mediation banks through which millions of dollars are wasted.
Enhancing the world's confidence in Iraq's financial situation
Adviser to the Prime Minister for Financial Affairs, Mazhar Muhammad Salih, told the Iraqi News Agency (INA), that "the decision to remove the name of Iraq from the list of high-risk countries in money laundering and terrorism financing will lead to the stability and encouragement of banking transactions between the parties involved in dealing from inside the country abroad."
He added, "The decision will spare Iraq's banking and financial system costs, risks and restrictions that it was exposed to with its correspondents in the world, especially European Union banks, in conducting normal banking and financial transactions," noting that "this opened new horizons of financial and banking cooperation to support investment activity, financing and financial integration." For our country with Europe and the world.”
He added, "This decision will generate positive repercussions on Iraq's credit rating and in a positive way that enhances confidence between Iraq and the world at large."
While the economic expert, Qusai Safwan, confirmed to the Iraqi News Agency (INA), that “the decision to remove Iraq from the black list of countries with high risks indicates the possibility that there will be international recognition of the banking financial system,” noting that “the central bank is trying to open up through private banks.” and government over the countries of the world.”
And he added, "This will allow the opening of branches for these banks in those countries, which will lead to an increase in the accuracy of tracking funds outside the Iraqi environment, and this is reflected in reducing import costs, given that many commissions were going to non-Iraqi banks," explaining that "this will increase Iraq's capacity." In the future, it will help attract investments, whether regional, European or international in general.”
A step that encourages foreign investment in Iraq
The economic expert, Bassem Antoine, also indicated to the Iraqi News Agency (INA), that "the reclassification of Iraq among the countries that can pay debts and have no suspicions of corruption, money laundering or changing the sex of money, will contribute to increasing the level of positive perception of the international investor towards the Iraqi environment."
He explained that "the banking system is currently required to increase its ability to be part of the international financial system through infrastructures at the level of the applicable information systems or through the accounting system and the adoption of international reporting standards so that Iraqi banks can quickly be part of the international financial system." .
While the economic expert, Ahmed Saddam, confirmed to the Iraqi News Agency (INA), that “lifting the name of Iraq from the list of high-risk countries in money laundering and terrorist financing is an important factor in facilitating the transfer of capital and financial transfers between Iraq and the European Union,” noting that “this positively affects the Encouraging the flow of foreign direct investment from Europe, provided that other attractive facilities are available, such as facilitating procedures and granting entry visas.
He stated that "raising the name of Iraq means improving the level of its economic reputation and enhancing confidence in the government financial sector.
Opportunities for Iraqi banks to expand in Europe
While the financial expert Safwan Qusay confirmed to the Iraqi News Agency (INA), that "the process of a positive view of the Iraqi economy will improve with Iraq's exit from the black list," explaining that "Iraqi banks currently run by the Central Bank can open windows for them through the European Union to facilitate the task of follow-up." The movement of money, as well as the process of reducing the opening of documentary credits and the accuracy of the process of tracking money and goods.”
And he added, "Iraq can bring European investments, because the positive view is that these funds are monitored by the Central Bank and are in compliance with the indicators of the World Finance Organization, as they will help in the process of Iraq's exit from the circle of doubt and sovereign guarantees," noting that it "supports the issue of the Iraqi banking system towards international banks.
He stressed that "the process of Iraq's exit from the black list indicates that the compliance procedures followed by the Central Bank were able during the current period to transform Iraq from a view tainted by part of the risks to a positive one," noting that "Iraq's banks are now in compliance with the transactions of the Central Bank by tracking the movement of Money. What we are missing is the movement of tracking goods entering Iraqi territory, in other words, if we are able to link the process of direct financial transfers or through remittances to the tax and customs system by tracking the physical movement of goods, we will succeed in the process of reducing corruption outlets in Iraq.
And he indicated that "when we have an integrated physical financial system, we can direct the Iraqi economy to real production."
He stated that “there are efforts made by the central bank and public and private banks in the process of providing conditions for making transfers,” noting that “Iraq used to use correspondent banks to make foreign transfers, and these are additional costs for the import process, as there are more than one billion dollars that are made.” wasted because there are no Iraqi banks abroad.”
He pointed out that "Iraq's lifting of these sanctions will help these banks open a window for the process of direct dealing with importers, and we will have a recognized financial system and encourage international investment to come to Iraqi lands."
Enhancing the confidence of the international community in Iraq's financial position
Among the security expert, Amir Al-Saadi, told the Iraqi News Agency (INA), that “raising the name of Iraq from the list of countries with high risks in money laundering is an important step, especially since Iraq needs great economic openness and economic movement in order to increase the volume of investments entering Iraqi territory, and therefore the presence of Such risks announced by important countries such as the United States of America may hinder the process of progress or development of the investment movement inside Iraq, and therefore we need international support with regional and international countries in order to restore this confidence between the local, regional party and the international party.
Al-Saadi indicated that "removing Iraq from this black list can strengthen Iraq's role once again in its confidence in the international community and the confidence of the international community in Iraq so that we can move away from the procedures that delay the movement and liquidity of Iraqi funds outside and inside the country," noting that "the process of monitoring Terrorism or its remnants contributed to the process of raising Iraq from this danger, with the presence of an intelligence movement on the issue of the network of money laundering and the organization of ISIS.”
The Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kazemi, confirmed, earlier today, Monday, that raising the name of Iraq from the high-risk countries is a step towards establishing effective diplomacy.
Al-Kazemi said, in a tweet to him on the Twitter platform, which was followed by the Iraqi News Agency (INA), that "the European Union's decision to remove the name of Iraq from the list of high-risk countries in money laundering and terrorist financing is an important step in dedicating effective Iraqi diplomacy to serve the interests of the country."
He added, "Governmental and diplomatic efforts are continuing at various levels to put Iraq in the position it deserves."
While the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ahmed Al-Sahaf, said in a statement received by the Iraqi News Agency (INA), that "active diplomacy has concluded to remove the name of Iraq from the list of high-risk countries in the areas of money laundering and terrorist financing, which reflects the confidence of the international community in the Iraqi government's actions."
He added, "The tireless efforts by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the concerned national authorities, and through the Embassy of the Republic of Iraq in Brussels, have led to results that will be positively reflected on the Iraqi economy."
It is noteworthy that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced, yesterday, Sunday, the removal of Iraq from the European Union's list of countries with high risks in the field of combating money laundering and terrorist financing.
And the ministry said in a statement received by the Iraqi News Agency (INA), that "the European Commission delegation handed Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi yesterday a message that included removing Iraq's name from the European Union's list of countries with high risks in the field of combating money laundering and terrorist financing."
She added, "The mission congratulated Iraq on the great measures and efforts that have been taken to improve the anti-money laundering system and combat the financing of terrorism."
The Ministry commended the “positive and continuous cooperation provided by the European Union, the countries that voted on the resolution, and the Union mission in Iraq, after Iraq raised its procedures to the level of international requirements,” thanking “the national authorities from the Ministry of Finance, the Central Bank of Iraq and the rest of the supporting bodies that contributed.” in achieving this achievement. link
Tishwash: Invitation to the new parliament to take care of economic laws
Experts and specialists called on the new House of Representatives to pay attention to real economic legislation to advance the country's economy, proposing to merge the two financial and economic committees into one committee to find practical solutions to the problems facing the public and private sectors and to work with the executive authority to solve them, and to overcome all challenges that confuse the reality of performance in the country. Yesterday (Sunday), the new parliament held its first session, as MP Muhammad al-Halbousi was elected speaker of parliament, Hakim al-Zamili as first deputy and Shakhwan Abdullah as second deputy.
The expert, Raed Al-Amiri, told Al-Sabah: "The new parliament must legislate real laws that support the economy, especially since the next four years are considered pivotal with regard to the financial situation in the country."
enact law
He added, {We find that most of the laws that are approved are far from supporting the Iraqi economy or intersect with other laws, as what has been enacted in previous parliaments are laws to align the country’s financial matters such as the budget, lending, or other things, while moving away from legislation to support the two sectors. public and private, or amending the investment law or the oil and gas law and other important legislation
and necessary}.
The Committee on Economy and Investment in the previous parliament had confirmed that amending the investment law depends on the work of the House of Representatives
Indicating that {the amendment of the law does not require a great effort, but rather the amendment of the paragraphs that need to be amended and hosting officials and then reading it a first and second reading and then voting on it} , while the head of the National Investment Commission, Suha Al-Najjar stressed the existence of loopholes in the Iraqi investment law, explaining that {the Iraqi investment law contains simple loopholes, and for many years corruption dominated investment, as corruption and political pressures delayed the completion of investment projects for years, and that most projects The investment was limited to some people for years.
Distraction of proposals
In turn, the financial expert Thamer Al-Azzawi suggested merging the two financial and economic committees into one committee.
He told Al-Sabah: "This merger is necessary to facilitate work and not to distract proposals, visions and recommendations, as we have seen during previous parliaments that some laws are supervised by more than one committee, and each committee presents a contrary opinion about the other committee, and in order to unify that and find solutions." For quick or medium-term development of the economic sector, these two must be combined The two committees.
financial policy
Al-Azzawi added that {the financial policy in Iraq is not clear-cut, as Iraq has not yet moved to a real market economy, as it is necessary to integrate the economic sectors, involve the private sector and adopt new methods related to the oil sector and natural resources in the country, as well as seeking to work in other sectors. Industry, transportation, construction, housing, agriculture, communications and tourism, and revitalizing the work of banks and other productive and service sectors}, stressing that {these all require laws, legislation or amendments by the House of Representatives. the new}.
high commission
As for the specialist, Saad Al-Fayyad, he saw the need for Parliament and the government to work together to advance the economy, that is, to create a higher committee that includes ministers and heads of the relevant committees.
Al-Fayyadh told Al-Sabah: "After the formation of the new government, such a committee must be formed to unify visions, bring distances closer and shorten time, away from routine and exchanged official books." Al-Fayyadh pointed to the "importance of the parliamentarians to stay away from personal interests or political conflicts when legislating laws related to the economy, especially since all experts believe that the next five years will be crucial and important for the country's economy." ink
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April: No surprises in the first session of the Iraqi parliament: the Shiite framework riots and the election of Al-Halbousi
BAGHDAD – The Sadrists, the Sunni Alliance and other Iraqi parliamentary groups left the Shiite framework, which is the biggest loser in the legislative elections, to perform a dramatic show that does not carry any political feasibility in the first session of the newly elected parliament; The representatives of the framework assaulted the speaker of the session, the oldest parliamentarian Mahmoud al-Mashhadani (73 years old), and then failed to prevent the election of Muhammad al-Halbousi as Speaker of Parliament for a new term.
The first session witnessed quarrels reflecting the failure of the Shiite framework to convince Muqtada al-Sadr, whose current led the election results, that the next government would be a consensual government that would preserve the accumulated political gains of the rule of the Dawa Party and Iran-backed parties and groups, and al-Sadr’s insistence on forming a majority government that would reflect the election results.
The rapid developments in the Sunni arena have confused the Shiite framework. The leaders of the “Progress” and “Al-Azm” alliances (the two largest Sunni alliances) agreed on Saturday to nominate Al-Halbousi for a new presidency of Parliament and to choose Khamis Al-Khanjar as the head of the “Progress” and “Al-Azm” alliance.
The “Progress” coalition led by al-Halbousi came second in the elections with 37 seats (out of 329), behind the leading Sadrist bloc, which won 73 seats, while the “Azm” coalition led by al-Khanjar won 14 seats, before other Sunni forces joined in. To become its seats 34 seats.
The Sadrist movement is heading for an alliance with prominent Sunni and Kurdish blocs to obtain an absolute majority
Al-Sadr left the Shiite framework in a weak political position, as its “leader” former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki was unable to unite the Shiite political rank after the entry of the pro-Iranian Popular Mobilization currents as a political and military pressure force, and then its resounding loss in the recent elections.
“The session started naturally, headed by the head of the age, and the constitutional oath was taken,” said MP Muthanna Amin from the Kurdistan Islamic Union. He added, “Then the members of the coordination framework (the Shiite parties loyal to Iran) submitted a request to confirm that they are the largest bloc, noting that their bloc consisted of 88 deputies. Then the head of the age asked to check this information, and there were interventions, and some deputies attacked him.” Al-Mashhadani was taken to hospital, but his condition is stable.
Representative Raad Al-Dahlaki from the “Takaddam” bloc headed by Al-Halbousi confirmed that “arguments took place and a stampede occurred between the Sadrist bloc and the coordination framework over the eligibility of one of them as the largest bloc.” After chaos prevailed for a certain period, the session resumed, headed by Khaled Al-Daraji of the Sunni “Azm” coalition (14 seats). After that, Al-Halbousi was declared the winner.
Extensive deliberations prior to the first session failed to dissuade al-Sadr from his decision, who repeatedly reiterated his insistence on forming a “majority government,” which would constitute a break with the political tradition that requires consensus among the major Shiite parties.
The developments of the political scene in Parliament on Sunday suggest that the Sadrist movement is heading for an alliance with prominent Sunni and Kurdish blocs in order to obtain the absolute majority (half plus one of the members of Parliament), and to nominate a prime minister whose custom requires that he be Shiite.
Al-Sadr said in a tweet on the eve of the session, “Today, there is no place for sectarianism and no place for ethnicity, but a government of a national majority.”
The coordination framework includes the Al-Fateh Alliance representing the Popular Mobilization, which won only 17 seats compared to 48 seats in the previous parliament, as well as the State of Law coalition headed by former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki (33 seats).
Over the course of several weeks, the forces loyal to Iran stressed their rejection of the election results and submitted an appeal to the Federal Court to cancel it, but the court rejected the case.
Its supporters demonstrated in front of the gates of the Green Zone for weeks, denouncing the results, while tension in the country reached its climax following the assassination attempt on Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi last November.
The head of the Center for Political Thinking and the Iraqi researcher Ihsan Al-Shammari believes that the situation indicates that “the form of the next government may be according to a new principle, which is the so-called consensus of the majority; It is a coalition government, but in a new format,” unlike previous governments in which all parties participated.
He explains, “We may be facing a new concept called majority consensus; That is, al-Sadr ally with the Sunni house represented by “Azm” and “Progress”, and with the Kurdish political house (the Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union), and even part of the coordinating framework may join Muqtada al-Sadr’s project.”
After its first session, Parliament is supposed to elect, within 30 days, a new President of the Republic, who must, in turn, designate a Prime Minister within 15 days from the date of his election, who will be the candidate of the “largest parliamentary bloc” according to the constitution. From the day he is appointed, the new prime minister will have 30 days to form the government.
The number of women in the new parliament is 95, compared to 75 in the previous parliament.
The parliament also includes two independent blocs, the first with 28 deputies from the “Extension” movement emanating from the protest movement and the Kurdish “New Generation” movement, and the second with nine deputies from the “Eshraqa Kanon” bloc and independents. Most of them enter parliament for the first time.
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