Iraq urges France to hold investment conf. in Paris

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Iraqi Finance Minister Baqer Jabr al-Zubaydi urged in Istanbul French counterpart Christine Lagarde to hold an investment conference in Paris and also discussed with her a host of finance and economic issues between the two countries and means to develop them. “Minister Zubaydi, on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings in the Turkish city of Istanbul, had talks with Minister Lagarde on ways to enhance financial and economic relations to serve the two sides’ common interests,” a finance ministry web site statement read on Sunday. Zubaydi proposed to the French finance minister to convene an investment conference in Paris next spring similar to that held in London and another to be held in Washington so as to bring together French investors and Iraqi private sector representatives to explore fields of investment and cooperation in all domains. The Iraqi official discussed with Lagarde the issues of signing an agreement with a French institution that is to offer credit facilities for Iraqi banks with the objectives of opening appropriations for trade and investment purposes. The two sides agreed on the possibility of signing the deal during Iraqi President Jalal Talabani’s visit to France soon. AmR (S) 1