Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov and
Co-Chair of the Russian-Iraqi Commission, Deputy Prime Minister for
International Affairs and Foreign Minister of the Republic of Iraq Fuad Hussein
discussed cooperation between the two countries in the energy sector, industry,
transport and agriculture.
The talks were held in the limited-attendance format
and with the participation of executives representing the business communities
of both countries. “Our countries are linked by the bonds of strong friendship
and mutually beneficial cooperation,” Mr Borisov said. “Our bilateral dialogue
is traditionally intensive. On 22 April of this year, we met for talks in Baghdad
in our role as co-chairs of the commission. We had the opportunity to set
priority objectives to further strengthen our cooperation in business.”
“During our limited-attendance talks, where we
discussed our earlier agreements on several major projects, Mr Hussein and I
managed to reach an understanding on almost all issues,” Mr Borisov noted. In
the pandemic year of 2020, trade between Russia and Iraq declined by 52 percent compared to 2019. In the first six months of
2021, trade was up 150 percent from the same period of 2019, reaching $113
million.
“Of course, the energy sector is the most successful
area of cooperation,” Mr Borisov noted. “A key factor in successful cooperation
is the effective implementation of our joint flagship projects, including West
Qurna 2, the development of the Eridu oil field at Block 10 and the Badra
project. We have not tapped the full potential in this area – far from it.”
The participants in the intergovernmental commission
meeting agreed there were good prospects for expanding cooperation in the
transport machine-building, power engineering and agricultural engineering industry,
glass production, the ceramic industry, the pharmaceutical industry and
agriculture.
