Albawaba.com -Amman
A Jordanian delegation headed by the Minister of Industry and Commerce Wasef Azar will arrive Friday in Baghdad for talks with top Iraqi officials on enhancing bilateral relations, particularly in the economic field.
The delegation, which includes the ministers of transportation, energy, health and agriculture, the heads of chambers of industry and commerce, as well as a number of businessmen, will discuss a comprehensive economic agenda with the Iraqi officials.
The agenda will focus on the reactivation of the trade protocol signed between the two countries and the obstacles that stand in the path of its implementation.
This is in addition to increasing the share of the Jordanian companies in the export contracts based on the UN “oil for food agreement” and facilitating free exports to the Iraqi market.
Both parties will bring to the negotiating table the issue of a hoped-for free trade zone, and the mechanisms required to make it work.
The two sides are also expected to revisit the issue of Iraqi factories, many of which have been gathering dust since the Gulf War, and the possibility of Jordan’s industrial sector participating in efforts to restart them.
Iraqi industrialists have asked their Jordanian counterparts to help them in this respect by providing the necessary spare parts and equipment. Meanwhile, the Jordanian delegation will explain the suffering of some Jordanian industrialists due to the closure of their factories or decreases in their productivity after the loss of their major Iraqi market due to the war and subsequent UN embargo.
Economic experts say that the Jordanian delegation will very likely inform the Iraqi delegation of the technical status of several Iraqi planes that have been sitting at Queen Alia international airport for more than 10 years. The planes have been exposed to damage over this period, leaving them incapable of flying, the Jordanian minister of transportation announced earlier.
The Iraqi authorities want to recover their planes from neighboring countries, including Jordan, where they were flown in the heat of the Gulf War to avoid their destruction.
On the energy issue, the talks will cover an oil pipeline project announced a few months ago, which will be implemented soon.
