The Minister of Trade, Atheer Dawood Al-Ghurairy, announced the completion of technical and logistical procedures to pay the sums owed by Iraq to the World Trade Organization (WTO).
The Ministry said in a statement that “the Department of Foreign Economic Relations was able, in coordination with the administrative and financial department in the Ministry, and with exceptional efforts, to complete all procedures related to the payment of sums owed by Iraq in favor of the organization, for its membership in it as an observer, since the contribution had accumulated for previous years as a result of the delay in approving the general budget for Iraq, in addition to reducing its percentage due to the austerity measures adopted since 2018.
The statement added, “The Minister of Trade and Chairman of the National Committee on Iraq’s accession to the organization had issued directives to give the issue the utmost importance.”
For his part, the Director General of the Department of Relations in the Ministry, Riyadh Al-Hashemi, confirmed addressing the concerned authorities with the need to resolve the file and implement the recommendations of the Diwani Order Committee No. 6 of 2022 regarding financial contributions to international and regional organizations, in addition to the fact that this issue is consistent with the paragraphs of the government curriculum, which prioritized cooperation with international organizations, of particular importance is its widespread impact on the global economy.
He pointed out that “his department gave the WTO file a special importance within its plan prepared for the coming period, which supervises the implementation of the part related to it by the WTO department by coordinating the efforts of all government sectors to serve the interest of Iraq and its position.”
Source: National Iraqi News Agency