PM urges JICA to participate in agricultural, reconstruction projects

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Sunday urged the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to participate in reconstruction, agricultural and drinking water projects in Iraq in general and Basra in particular, according to a statement by Maliki’s information office. “The calls were made during a meeting between Maliki and JICA President Sadako Ogata in the presence of Japanese ambassador in Baghdad Shoji Okawa,” read the statement as received by IraqiNews.com news agency. “Japan is a friendly country and showed positions supportive of Iraq. The work and efforts of JICA, an organization well known in the international community, are praiseworthy,” Maliki was quoted in the statement. “During the Iraq support conference, Japan has offered loans and grants and we thank it for this cooperation and for its numerous projects in the Iraqi Kurdistan region,” he said, calling on JICA to set up projects all over Iraqi provinces. He urged JICA to launch projects in the fields of agriculture, reconstruction and drinking water, namely in the province of Basra, as well as cooperate on training Iraqi technicians in these fields. Ogata, for her part, said JICA is interested in launching projects to improve services and standards of living by offering loans and grants. “The organization is also ready to participate in the reconstruction projects in Iraq in the spheres of electricity, agriculture, drinking water and training Iraqi technicians,” Ogata added. Meanwhile, Okawa said the Japanese government has offered three new projects as part of soft loans for Iraq in the fields of water filtering in central and southern Iraq, a natural gas plant in al-Anbar and a hydroelectric plant in Duhuk. On Saturday (Oct. 10), Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Rafie al-Issawi said that four provinces, apart from an Iraqi Kurdistan province, will benefit from investment projects to be carried out by Japanese companies. “A meeting was held on Saturday between Deputy Premier Issawi and JICA President Ogata and her accompanying delegation in the presence of Japanese ambassador in Baghdad Okawa to discuss investment plans and projects by Japanese firms operating in Iraq,” according to a statement by Issawi’s office as received by IraqiNews.com. “The deputy prime minister announced during the meeting that four more Iraqi provinces, including Diala and Ninewa, will make good use of the Japanese investments in the country,” read the statement. Okawa said that the Japanese government has released $900 million out of a total $5 billion in a soft loan for Iraq, bringing the sum appropriated by the Japanese side to $3.5 billion. The meeting was attended by the Iraq National Investment Commission (INIC) President Sami al-Aaraji, Minister of Higher Education & Scientific Research Abad Dhayyab and Chief of the Cabinet Advisors’ Panel Thamir al-Ghadban. AmR (I) 1