Chairwoman of the National Investment Commission… The city of Rafael is the new bright side for Baghdad, and a home for all Iraqis

Chairwoman of the National Investment Commission, Suha Daoud Najjar, clarified that lands surrounding Baghdad International Airport are tainted by a lot of misunderstanding and inaccuracy in dealing with information in public opinion, which requires providing the necessary clarification in this regard. We are working for the last few months on checking legal and technical procedures taken by some investors to own those lands and the reasons for building and encroaching on the public property of the state in that area, including the main streets that connect the governorates with the capital Baghdad, which necessitated the withdrawal of these licenses and bring property back to the state.

Therefore, NIC started working with other concerned parties and formed a complete technical team   to develop a new urban planning that puts it in the ranks of its counterparts in neighboring countries. These efforts culminated in the approval of the city of Rafael, the new administrative capital in Baghdad, designed by specialized international companies managed in coordination with the concerned ministries and institutions within a ministerial committee supporting the project, which was presented to the Council of Ministers with all its details, especially Residential projects, service and administrative units, and industrial projects related to the airport and surround the whole project with the green belt to achieve the required clean environment. it is planned for the construction works to continue for five years, subject to change according to needs and procedures.

Regarding the news about displacing about 300,000 people from this area and the non-observance of international laws that there should be no residential areas near airports, we assure all the followers and those interested in the subject that the main design of the Rafael city project has taken into account all the technical, architectural and other details with the specialists in this matter and that the implementation of these complexes And the services will be in accordance with the latest international and security standards surrounding cities and the construction of airports, and this project was not announced until after extensive studies in all aspects related to it and after conducting various disclosures and surveys of the area surrounding the airport, which will also be ready for expansion in accordance with the developments. heights were determined by global ans local authorities in accordance with international engineering and security standards and the Civil Aviation Authority. There will also be a maintenance center for aircraft, air freight and other necessary logistics services within the vicinity of the airport.

Achieving a city of this size will not take place without the concerted efforts of all the sincere efforts in the country and the desire to serve the Iraqi people and economy. It is not a privilege for one person in the state, but rather a national achievement that counts for all.

Chairwoman of the National Investment Commission Suha Daoud Najjar receives the Emirati Ambassador in Baghdad Salem Issa Al Zaabi and discusses with him the bilateral relations between the two countries and the prospects for joint cooperation in various investment sectors.

Under the guidance of Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi, Chairwoman of the National Investment Commission … announces the launch of the city of “Al-Rafeel” as an administrative capital with integrated services

 

Chairwoman of the National Investment Commission, Suha Daoud Najjar, announced that the Council of Ministers approved in its regular session, held on Tuesday 15/6/2021, to allocate ​​(106) thousand acres within the area surrounding Baghdad International Airport to the National Investment Commission to oversee the construction of the “Al Rafael” city project as an administrative capital. Supportive and parallel to their counterparts in neighboring countries. Chairwoman said that this project will be implemented in four phases, the first phase of which includes the construction of (residential, educational, commercial, medical, service, and recreational) complexes that will use ​​(16) thousand acres, contributing to providing (75) thousand housing units for ( 300) thousand people in proportion to the designs proposed by the American company (CH2M Hil) and presenting them as investment opportunities and preparing detailed plans for each opportunity that include the type and nature of the project, its area and its uses, taking into account the provision of infrastructure services and environmental determinants in accordance with the designs and standards of the concerned authorities.

She added that the second phase of the project will include launching industrial and logistic service projects adjacent to the airport, while the third phase will witness the launch of environmentally friendly agricultural and food projects, while the fourth phase of the project will be at the north of the airport area in Abu Ghraib district. .

Chairwoman of the commission stressed that the project will have a tangible economic and social impact on the Iraqi economy for its active and expected participation in solving part of the problem of the increasing population expansion and the accompanying urgent need for housing, in addition to its active participation in reducing unemployment by providing diverse and large job opportunities in these projects. Referring in this context to instructions issued by NIC to the concerned authorities to reduce the percentage of foreign workers coming from abroad from (50%) to (20%) only of the volume of labor in each project, and to be limited to specializations that are not available inside the country..

Chairwoman of the commission concluded her speech by noting that during the next two weeks from (10) to (12) the commission will present an investment opportunity for integrated projects granted through the competent referral committees from state departments with high transparency and under the supervision of a specialized technical team that includes international and Iraqi consultants with a high degree of competence and experience. Appreciating the distinguished and supportive role of all state ministries and departments concerned with the subject

The National Investment Commission … begins implementing a new entrance to the city of Bismayah

To ease traffic congestion at the current entrance

Chairwoman of the National Investment Commission, Suha Daoud Najjar, confirmed that the high demand of citizens to buy housing units in Basmaya project, in addition to demands from a number of ministries and government agencies, called on NIC to announce the cessation of selling housing units now in preparation for organizing the upcoming sales mechanisms.

She added that the branches of the three banks (Al-Rafidain, Al-Rasheed and TBI) concerned with the sale of housing units for the Bismayah housing project, had witnessed a great turnout after the issuance of the instructions to reduce the down payment to (10%) of the value of the housing unit and for all areas and extending the payment period to (25 ) years based on the decision of the Council of Ministers on November 10, 2020

Announcing the inclusion of the road project linking (Baghdad – Basmaya) within the budget of the Ministry of Construction and Housing for the year 2021 and the formation of a joint working team with the ministry to study the commencement of road works and in the form that ensures its implementation according to the designs prepared for it, and this represents a great support for the project, especially with the increasing number of residents and Traffic jam at the current entrance.

Also she indicated that South Korean Hanwha Company began to implement the work of grading and preparing the land for Gate No. (4) located between Block B1, A3, with a length of 230 meters and a width of 34 meters after reaching an agreement with the owners of the lands adjacent to the second entrance It is hoped that it will be completed within the next five months, with the activation of the electronic gate for residents to enter the city.

According to Prime Minister’s directives of withdrawing investment licenses from uncommitted investors 

NIC Chairwoman: the Decision is Fair for real serious investor

NIC Chairwoman, Suha Najar, assured that the decision of withdrawing investment licenses from investors of projects with achievement rates less than 35% is absolutely just and fair for the serious investors because it could enhance positive reaction on both sides of the investment equation.

She added that the state departments concerned with investment in Iraq now are fully aware that any mistake in using fundamental investment tools as tax breaks which revenues can compete with the national industry, the wrong exploitation of the national lands or granting irrelevant entry visas that can cause disruption and increasing of Iraqi unemployment rate, collectively can contribute to crippling and deteriorating of the Iraqi Investment process.

The positive reactions to the decision helped distinguishing the serious investor who encounters real obstacles and the false one who exploit and disrupt important promising projects for the Iraqi economy.

Najar expressed her optimism assuring that the forthcoming phase shall witness resuming a number of the disrupted projects and re announcement of others especially in housing sector.

 

 

NIC Chairwoman, Suha Dawood Najar, meets with the representative of USAID and the head of TAKAMUL program ( PETER DIMITROFF )  and discusses a number of issues regarding activating partnership between the Iraqi public and private sectors

NIC Chairwoman, Suha Dawood Najar, meets on Tuesday 1.06.2021 with the Minister of Labor and social Affairs, Mr. Adil AL- Rekabi, and discusses a number of issues regarding investment.

 

During her meeting with the Iranian Assistant Foreign Minister and the accompanying official delegation

Chairwoman of the National Investment Commission … There are no restrictions on the entry and exit of foreign capital to Iraq.

Chairwoman of the National Investment Commission, Suha Dawood Najjar, met the Assistant Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran for Diplomatic and Economic Affairs, Mr. Rasoul Muhajir, and the accompanying official delegation, on Wednesday, 05/26/2021, at NIC  headquarters.

She discussed with him a number of issues related to the mechanisms of economic and investment cooperation between the two countries, represented by facilitating entry visa procedures for Iranian companies and investors to Iraq with their Iraqi counterparts, in addition to providing an explanation of the most prominent priorities of the strategy of the investment process in Iraq, which is based on fundamental factors based on moving towards infrastructure projects mainly due to the damage it has suffered in addition to the residential and educational projects that have a direct impact on peoples life, as well as the governorate development projects, starting from the service of the Iraqi economy first.

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Referring to the most prominent economic sectors that can be activated with the Iranian side in light of the privileges granted by the amended Iraqi Investment Law No. (13) for the year 2006, and the great flow that the law guarantees in the entry and exit of foreign capital to Iraq without any restrictions.

Iranian Assistant Foreign Minister affirmed that we are here today to discover and work on all available areas for investment, based on the great economic potential of the Islamic Republic and the social commonalities between the two peoples, reviewing a number of vital economic sectors that can be activated in Iraq in the sectors (electricity, pharmaceutical industries, food, etc.).

The meeting was attended by the Iranian Foreign Minister’s advisor, Gholam Reza Ansari, the Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Iraq, Iraj Masjedi, Directors Generals of the Legal and One Stop Shop Departments and the NIC’s advisors.

 

Turning to the Electronic government

NIC Chairwoman, Suha Dawood Najar, pleasantly announced the launching of the electronic gate for receiving investment applications through the NIC official website (www.investpromo.gov.iq) starting from Wednesday 21.04.2021.

The gate shall provide investors with a number of privileges after creating their own accounts, the privileges shall include the ability to apply and disclose all required documents electronically and following the applications status up to find out if they were approved, denied or still under study.

Najar also added that this direction had been developed to minimize bureaucratic measures and to lower the possibility of delay or blackmailing in a way that contribute to creating attractive investment environment.

NIC Chairwoman, Suha Dawood Najar, receives the Ambassador of Turkey to Baghdad on Sunday Feb. 07.21 and discusses means of potential cooperation between the two countries with over viewing a number of available investment opportunities in various sectors of mutual interest.