The UK’s secretary of state for foreign, commonwealth and development affairs, James Cleverly, has just wrapped up two days of talks with Iraq’s deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs, Fuad Hussein at the second UK-Iraq strategic dialogue in London on 3-4th July.
Experts discussed how to encourage greater investment into Iraq and how to remove barriers to trade, with Hussein also meeting leading UK businesses to identify new commercial opportunities.
Iraqi News reported that one such meeting was scheduled with British Telecom, citing a report from the Iraqi Foreign Ministry. It says that Hussein underscored the vital importance of fostering communication channels between ministries and urged the involvement of private enterprises such as BT to contribute effectively to Iraq's progress by providing support.
However, BT confirmed to Capacity that a meeting never actually took place.
The statement cited by Iraqi News claims that both parties expressed their dedication to creating a long-term partnership, with an emphasis on cultivating innovative solutions and facilitating the exchange of technical expertise between the two nations.
Elsewhere in the talks, the two ministers said in a joint statement they discussed the importance of building a prosperous future for the Iraqi people.
The UK’s commitment to support Iraq as it undertakes long-term reforms required to put Iraq’s economy and society on a stable footing was also discussed, with both sides welcoming the government of Iraq’s ambitious economic reform agenda.
Part of this reform is to transform the economy away from a reliance on oil, creating private sector jobs in a range of new industries.
The UK committed to share expertise through government-to-government exchanges; and provide bilateral support and technical assistance to deliver economic reform in key areas such as building economic capacity, diversifying government revenue sources and improving access to international finance to invest in the economy.
