Iraq is betting on the private sector in reconstruction

Iraq is betting on the private sector in reconstruction


 
10-02-2018 05:20 PM

Kuwait will host an international conference on the reconstruction of Iraq from February 12 to 14, two months after Baghdad announced the 'end of the war' against the jihadists .

Three years after jihadists seized control and bloody battles to expel them from nearly a third of the country, Iraq, ravaged by war and wracked by the blockade since the 1980s, is betting on international donors, especially the private sector .

Deputy Foreign Minister Khalid al-Jarallah said that "more than 2,000 companies and businessmen" will participate in the conference where Iraqi officials will present their huge project .

Al-Jarallah explained that the first day will be dedicated to the community institutions, while the second day will be allocated entirely to the private sector, while the last day will be the announcement of the financial contributions of the participating countries .

Iraq, OPEC's second largest oil producer, has already intensified its calls for investors around the world. In particular, he intends to rely on his oil reserves, which have not yet been fully exploited .

At the World Economic Forum in Davos at the end of January, Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi was clear that the huge reconstruction project would cost $ 100 billion .


"This is a huge amount of money, and we know very well that we can not fund it with our budget," which is affected by lower crude oil prices and long war, Abbadi said .

"That's why we need to call for investments. It's the only way 'to raise a similar sum, which is half of the country's GDP .

"The task is enormous for an important reason," said UNICEF Representative Peter Hawkins in Iraq .

"If everyone concentrates on Mosul, the second largest city in the country and the capital of the caliphate whose historical heart has become a hill of ruins, we should not forget that other provinces such as Anbar, Diyala and Salahuddin also suffered from wars .

"Housing is the key element because 19 percent of the total destruction of the country has taken place in this sector," said Irfan Ali, director of the United Nations Housing Program in Iraq. More than 2.6 million people are still displaced .

More than 26,000 homes, including more than 17,000 in Mosul, have been destroyed or severely damaged, according to UNOSAT .

Hawkins pointed out that at a time when the war was in the north, the south of the country had large cuts in the budget, saying, 'Some schools receive students for two or three hours' per day .

In order to build, rehabilitate and revitalize 'economic growth and services', Hawkins said, the private sector should be attracted to Iraqis who have almost one-quarter of them to earn less than $ 2 a day in access to 'health, education, social security and water resources '.


To attract investors from the private sector, Kuwait and the World Bank have made pledges. To reassure the cautious private sector in investing in the country ranked tenth in the global corruption list, a "data platform on reconstruction that ensures transparency and accountability" has been developed, Ali said .

Therefore, priority in Kuwait will be 'to develop plans, analyzes and solutions' so that the country can 'rebuild its services and way of life '.

Hawkins also pointed out that in the conflict-ridden Middle East, it is all about keeping Iraq at the top of the international community's agenda. And then comes the financial side '.

But in Baghdad, everyone calls for this "historic event," according to Hawkins, not to be missed. "Investing in services, including education, will now benefit the country in an amazing way, while not doing so will be tragic," he said. '.


The danger, according to Hawkins, is 'the lost generation that can not contribute to the economy or security in Iraq, when it becomes adult '.

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Governments may kick in some, and private sector can help, but face it, what has to be done is akin to rebuilding Germany after WWII. The devastation is massive, they still have not even uncovered all the bodies, let alone unexploded munitions and IEDs left behind by ISIS. This will take years, and not a few.  Berlin, for example, took well into the 60's to rebuild after WWII, as did London.