New housing project under discussion with internatio?nal companies

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: A strategic project for building one million housing units in Iraq is presently under discussion between the Iraqi Investment Commission and more than 130 international companies, the Commission’s Chairman, Sami Raouf al-Aaraji, said on Sunday.   Aaraji told IraqiNews.com news agency that at least 10 international companies are holding serious negotiations with his Commission to implement the project, depending on their huge potential as leading companies specialized in this field. The National Investment Commission had announced earlier that the Commission’s Investment Plan included the construction of one million housing units in different Iraqi provinces, including north Iraq’s Kurdistan Region.   He said the companies belong to different nationalities, including Turkish and South-Korean companies. He noted that the facilities presented for investment in the housing sector include granting  patches of land, free of charge, for housing projects, in order to minimize the cost of housing units for citizens with limited income.  “Investment in housing represents one of the most important sectors of investment, because it shall employ large numbers of unemployed workers, in addition to the major necessity for that important sector,” Aaraji said.    SKH (TS)/SR 596