International donors and investors have pledged US$30bn to help Iraq rebuild its economy after its massive war against the Islamic State group
However, the country fell short of US$88.2bn that it asked to rebuild the nation.
Speaking to Reuters, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, Iraq’s foreign minister, said, “If we compare what we got today to what we need, it is no secret, it is of course much lower than what Iraq needs. But we know that we will not get everything we want.”
The international investors gathered in Kuwait to discuss Iraq’s economy and infrastructure and ways to help the country in reconstructing them at the three-day meeting in Kuwait. The summit assembled NGO's and 74 nations to negotiate an assistance package to help Iraq rebuild itself after 15 years of armed conflict.
Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Turkey have announced to provide a grant of US$8.5bn to Iraq, with Kuwait and Turkey contributing to the bulk of this sum.
The Kuwaiti Emir Sabah Al Ahmad spoke about the difficulties that Iraq faces due to the terrorist organisations' control of some of its lands. He further explained that Iraq's stability is an inseparable part of security and stability of the state of Kuwait and the entire region.
Without providing a direct assistance from the government, the US has announced to grant an amount of US$3bn loan to Iraq.
Speaking to the source, Iraq officials said that about US$23bn is needed for short-term and more than US$65bn for the medium term reconstruction. According to them, the reconstruction of roads, hospitals, schools, homes, businesses and telecommunications are crucial to rebuild Iraq’s economy and boost up development.
Technical Review Middle East
19/02/2018
