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Clare » August 13th, 2025
Government advisor: Iraq is qualified to become a cultural and religious tourism destination in the Middle East.
8/13/2025 Baghdad – INA – Nassar Al-Hajj
The Prime Minister’s Financial Advisor, Mazhar Mohammed Salih, confirmed on Wednesday that Iraq possesses the necessary capabilities to become one of the most prominent cultural and religious tourism destinations in the Middle East.
Saleh told the Iraqi News Agency (INA): “Despite Iraq’s unique cultural and tourism heritage, which includes religious, cultural, and environmental tourism, the contribution of tourism to the gross domestic product does not exceed 0.5%, compared to countries like Spain, where the percentage is close to 13%. This disparity indicates a policy and investment gap that can be bridged through well-thought-out structural reforms.”
He added, “Iraq has unique tourism pillars globally, including religious, archaeological, and global tourism, all of which are interconnected. Tourism activity alone contributes to generating value-added chains simultaneously. This requires a strong investment policy that increases the number of workers in the tourism sector from the current 100,000 to 500,000 or more.”
He pointed out that “this important issue can be activated once investment in this sector is reorganized, whether directly or indirectly, which requires raising tourism’s contribution to the GDP from the current 0.5% to 5% over the five-year plan.”
He explained that “cultural and religious tourism can enhance Iraq’s international image in a more attractive way through investment and tourism promotion, and most importantly, diversifying sources of national income and reducing dependence on oil.”
He stressed that “it requires launching a highly specialized national tourism strategy, in partnership with the private sector and international tourism organizations, for the years 2025-2035, in accordance with the vision of the Prime Minister’s government program and his recent affirmations in this regard, without neglecting to amend laws to encourage private tourism investment.”
He added: “With long-term tax exemptions as stipulated in the current investment law, and the allocation of tourism development funds directed at small and medium enterprises, as well as the establishment of free tourism zones with extensive customs and investment facilities linked to tourism development programs with the world, which include, for example, the launch of the Mesopotamian Civilizations Trail (Ur, Babylon and Nineveh) with a global tourism delegation system in an integrated tourism product with the world, as well as the marshes and religious and cultural tourism.”
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He concluded by saying, “Iraq has the necessary capabilities to become one of the most prominent cultural and religious tourism destinations in the Middle East, but this requires the implementation of a clear policy and strategic investment in infrastructure and laws.”
He pointed out that “transforming the tourism sector into a true engine of development requires immediate practical steps, starting with policies and ending with immediate implementation on the ground.” LINK
Baghdad and Kurdistan agree to resume oil exports under a special mechanism
8/13/2025
The Kurdistan Regional Government’s Ministry of Natural Resources agreed on Wednesday with the Iraqi Ministry of Oil to resume exports of the region’s crude oil under a special mechanism.
According to information obtained by Shafaq News Agency, the agreement stipulates that the export process will be conducted in accordance with the daily production of the fields, with 50,000 barrels allocated to meet the region’s internal needs, while the remaining quantities will be delivered to the federal government’s SOMO company.
The information also indicated that the draft agreement was signed by a delegation from the federal Ministry of Oil and a delegation from the region’s Ministry of Natural Resources, confirming that the federal delegation has returned to Baghdad.
According to the same information, the start of exports requires negotiations between the federal and Turkish governments before the process can be implemented.
An informed source revealed to Shafaq News Agency last month the details of the agreement between Baghdad and Erbil regarding the resumption of Kurdistan’s oil exports. He confirmed that the agreement stipulated that the regional government would hand over 240 billion dinars in revenues for the months of May and June, at a rate of 120 billion dinars per month, in addition to delivering 230,000 barrels of oil per day to Baghdad, in exchange for the latter sending the salaries of the region’s employees for those two months.
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The roots of this crisis between the federal government in Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) lie in ongoing disagreements over oil export mechanisms and the unification of public revenues. This is a long-standing crisis that resurfaces from time to time, but it has worsened significantly since May 2025, when the federal government refused to send salaries to the region’s employees. LINK
Source: Dinar Recaps
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