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.
