The Ministerial Council for the Economy issued a number of decisions in a meeting held today regarding residential complexes and groundwater projects.
A statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chairman of the Ministerial Council for the Economy, Fouad Hussein, chaired the twenty-seventh session of the Ministerial Council for the Economy, which was held in the building of the Ministry of Planning, in the presence of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Planning, the Ministers of Finance, Agriculture and Trade, the Secretary-General of the Council of Ministers, the Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq, the Chairman of the Securities Commission, the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Oil, and the Prime Minister’s Advisors for Economic and Legal Affairs. He discussed the items on its agenda and took the necessary decisions regarding them.
According to the statement, the Council hosted the Director-General of the Housing Department at th
e Ministry of Housing and Construction to discuss the issue of stalled residential complex projects and to discuss the best ways to complete those projects. The Council decided that the Ministry would announce the sale of those residential complexes and calculate the values of the amounts spent as a starting point for competition between investors when submitting their offers.
The Council also hosted the Director General of Planning and Follow-up and the Director General of the General Authority for Groundwater at the Ministry of Water Resources to discuss the issue of random use of groundwater and organize it. The Council decided to submit a clear and detailed study on the groundwater map, and to prepare controls and mechanisms for granting approvals for drilling wells in coordination with the Ministries of Agriculture and Industry and Minerals, in addition to including artesian well drilling equipment in the import license after the approval of the sectoral authority.
The Council decided that the Ministry
of Water Resources would prepare a detailed study for the projects (Irrigation of Amara and Reclamation of the Middle Tigris).
The Council also hosted the head of the Central Agency for Standardization and Quality Control and the head of the Federation of Iraqi Chambers of Commerce to discuss the implementation of the Council’s decision regarding granting the Iraqi quality mark and the tracking tape for goods (barcode), which has entered into force.
The Council recommended, according to the statement, that the Council of Ministers approve the allocation of an amount of (3) million dollars to secure and update the systems of the Iraqi Depository Center in the Securities Commission.
The Council also decided, based on the request submitted by the Federation of Iraqi Industries, to recommend to the Council of Ministers that the customs duty on ground plastic granules and plastic granules be (0.5%).
The Council approved, according to the statement, the request of the Spanish company Imathia, which is implement
ing the Basra-Shalamcheh railway line, to provide a performance guarantee amounting to 5% of the contract value within 21 days from the date of signing the contract, based on the instructions for implementing government contracts, and to emphasize to the Ministry of Transport that this line be used exclusively to transport passengers.
The Council also approved the completion of the project to establish a building for female students’ dormitories at the University of Baghdad, and approved the increase in the total cost of the projects to equip specialized mechanisms for the municipalities of Ramadi and Fallujah, and to establish a water project for government departments in the 7-kilometre area in the city of Ramadi.
Source: National Iraqi News Agency