Enabling and sustaining private foreign investment in Iraq

Paris, 6-8 July 2009

The MENA-OECD Project with the Republic of Iraq was first launched in October 2007 following a request from the Government of Iraq. The Project takes place under the umbrella of the MENA-OECD Initiative and in the broader framework of the International Compact for Iraq.

With the specific aim to support the National Investment Commission in Iraq in improving investment policies and promotion, the training workshop on Enabling and Sustaining Private Foreign Investment in Iraq took place at the OECD Conference Centre in Paris on 6-8 July 2009. Jointly organised by the Ministry of Investment of Egypt and the MENA-OECD Investment Programme, participants included five officials from the Iraqi National Investment Commission (NIC), as well as OECD and MENA experts.

During this workshop, representatives from the Egyptian Ministry of Investment, the OECD, and other organisations shared their expertise in:

• the legal and regulatory framework for fostering foreign investment in Iraq
• the negotiation of international investment agreements 
•  investor-state dispute settlement and trends in arbitration

Participants benefited from the expertise of Dr. Mohamed Abdel Raouf, the Deputy Director and Secretary General of the Cairo Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration (CRCICA), who discussed the CRCICA’s experience regarding the settlement of investment disputes and discussed the role of the arbitrator in combating corruption.

Each session included active discussions applying the topics to the specific situation of Iraq.