Iraq in Discussions with Chinese State-Owned Investment Company for Project Financing

Over the course of the past decade and a half, Iraq has been ravaged by war and terrorism. The unrest in the country has led to a rapidly declining economy and in turn, a total collapse of the infrastructure in the country. The country has pretty much collapsed amidst the turmoil, and it needs massive investment to get back on its feet. In that regard, the Chinese state has emerged as one of the biggest investors in overseas infrastructure building over the course of the past few years. The initiatives have led to the building of roads, ports and other infrastructural projects in many countries across the world.

It now seems that Chinese investment could now be heading to Iraq. It has now emerged that China’s CITIC Group Corporation Ltd is currently in talks with Iraq with the view of financing infrastructural projects in the middle-eastern country. It should be noted that CITIC is an investment vehicle that is owned by the Chinese government. The financial advisor to the government of Iraq stated on Monday that the two parties are currently locked in talks regarding the whole matter. The financial advisor of the government of Iraq, Mudher Mohammed Saleh stated that the two nations are currently in talks and an agreement is going to be signed soon. He went on to say that work on the agreement is going to begin in the next two months. In addition to that, he revealed that the Finance Minister of Iraq Fouad Hussein was the government’s representative during the round of talks with CITIC.

The Finance Ministry of Iraq released a press statement on Sunday that fruitful talks had taken place with CITIC with regards to the work that needs to be done in order to start the infrastructure projects. In the statement, the ministry revealed that among the projects that are being considered are railway projects and strategic projects, which could be important for the Chinese state as well. Over the past decade, China has invested heavily in a range of country, and while it has helped build the infrastructure, it has developed a strategic advantage as well. This sort of investment allows the Chinese state to develop hegemony in a region and the country is following very aggressively at this point.