Baghdad urges London to ease regulations for British businesses in Iraq

Shafaq News/ On Wednesday, Iraq's Minister of Agriculture, Abbas Al-Maliki, urged the British government to lift all barriers preventing British companies from investing in Iraq.

In a statement, the Ministry of Agriculture highlighted the first official meeting between Minister Al-Maliki and British Minister of State for Investment, Lord Dominic Johnson, in London.

The meeting focused on "bolstering agricultural partnerships between Iraq and Britain, attended by Prime Minister's envoy to Iraq, Baroness Emma Nicholson, and Ahmed Salman, head of the Smart Agriculture Committee at the Iraqi British Business Council."

In addition, discussions centered on "enhancing British investments in Iraq's agricultural sector and facilitating British companies' entry into the Iraqi market, aiming to expand economic cooperation between the two nations."

For his part, Lord Johnson stressed the "significance of the Iraq-Britain partnership and the potential of intelligent and sustainable agriculture in Iraq."

Al-Maliki emphasized the urgency of improving Iraq's agricultural infrastructure and integrating modern technologies that were contributed by British expertise, expressing gratitude for continuous British support and encouraging British companies to invest in Iraq's agricultural sector, citing Iraq's stable security post-ISIS defeat and urging the lifting of travel advisories and bans on the British government website.

The British minister pledged to address these concerns, acknowledging the Iraqi perspective.