Saudi Arabia and Iraq are looking to build a wide-ranging economic partnership to boost trade and investment, and in this connection a big conclave of ministers, officials, and businessmen began discussions in Riyadh this week on boosting trade and investment.
Speaking at The Saudi-Iraqi Joint Forum, Saudi and Iraqi ministers emphasized the importance of beginning a new chapter in the history of comprehensive cooperation between the two countries at all levels, pledging to resolve all obstacles to bilateral trade and investment, with an eye toward expanding new ways to maximize the strategic partnership between Riyadh and Baghdad.
The Saudi Ministry of Energy and the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity signed a memorandum of agreement that establishes cooperation in electrical connections between the two countries’ networks. This minimizes power disruptions and maximizes the potential for the commercial energy exchange.
Along with this agreement, several others were signed between the Saudi and Iraqi business sectors, where Saudi and Iraqi companies showcased investment prospects in promising domains between the two countries.
The Saudi-Iraqi economic relationship is built on a solid institutional foundation, with trade and investment agreements established in many industries, as well as the Saudi-Iraqi Coordination Council and the Joint Company Council, which brings together business owners from both countries.
The trade connections between the two countries had achieved record heights. For example, the volume of trade exchange between Saudi Arabia and Iraq increased by 15% in 2020, or about SAR 3.4 billion (US$ 906.6 million), to reach nearly SAR 20 billion between 2016 2021. Iraq ranks 11th among Arab countries in terms of trade with Saudi Arabia.
Additionally, the reopening of the “Jedida port – Arar” in 2020 after a 30-year closure was the culmination of the “Saudi-Iraqi Coordination Council’s” project of establishing and improving the “new port – Arar” on the Saudi side and “the port of Arar” on the Iraqi side.
The project includes a “logistical zone” that will serve as the economic gateway to the Kingdom’s northern region and a significant step toward strengthening Saudi-Iraqi economic relations and establishing new avenues of cooperation in the economic and development sectors, as the project will facilitate intra-trade movement.