According to Manar Al-Abidi, the head of the Iraq Future Foundation, which held a press conference on Saturday, more than $50 billion in foreign direct investment fled Iraq during 2023.
He added that the report had perceived more than $52 billion in foreign investments lost by Iraq from 2013 to 2023, hence underpinning the critical role of foreign investments in driving growth, creating job opportunities, and knowledge transfer.
He mentioned among a few key reasons for the exit of such investments deteriorating business environment, lack of transparency, bureaucratic red tape, and conflicting sources of decision making.
“There are no clear laws which protect the funds of foreign investors as a contributing factor to this decline.” He said.
Al-Abidi criticized government programs for the private sector as “empty slogans”, pointing out that “a socialist and centralized mindset prevails in government institutions. This has negatively impacted on the investment goals, which have largely focused on local real estate rather than energy, infrastructure, and productive projects.”
He warned that “the persistence of this attitude in the government would likely lead to further draining of foreign investments from Iraq. ” He thus called for serious pursuit of an improved business environment due to three key elements: “transparency, facilitation, and protection” to beckon foreign investors toward the Iraqi economy.
