The Saudi-Iraqi coordination council proposed ideas to construct industrial cities inside Iraq, said Iraqi Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Qahtan al-Janabi. They also made suggestions on investment in renewable energy.
He told Asharq Al-Awsat that the meetings, which were held in Riyadh this week, were serious and productive.
He predicted that economic, cultural, trade and investment relations between the two neighbors would witness a great leap forward.
He said that a memorandum of understanding was signed between the Iraqi ministry of health and the Saudi Food and Drug Authority. Another was inked between the Iraqi government and Saudi Development Fund over the financing of some projects in Iraq.
The envoy remarked that this week’s meetings were different than their predecessors because the parties displayed a great desire to begin the implementation of these projects.
Janabi said that one meeting included Saudi Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, and representatives of Saudi Aramco and ACWA Power with the Iraqi ministers of finance, planning, oil and energy. They discussed important projects in Iraq and agreed on a timeframe to implement them.
Agreements include investment in gas, solar power and alternative energy, said the ambassador.
Major Saudi businessmen were also involved in the Saudi-Iraqi coordination council meetings, he continued. They made convincing proposals to Iraq over the construction of industrial cities and an economic free trade zone in Iraq.
