Media

Call for Government to Encourage Business Investment in Iraq

24 January 2008

A Liberal Democrat Member of the House of Lords, Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne has called on the UK Government and other EU member states to encourage business investment in Iraq’s economy.  Baroness Nicholson who is also a Member of the European Parliament for the UK South East Region, and chair of the European Parliaments Permanent ad hoc Delegation for relations with Iraq and was also the first Western politician to address the Iraqi Parliament in October 2007.

In a speech in the House of Lords, Baroness Nicholson as well as discussing European business investment in the Iraqi economy also discussed Governments and the EU giving technical assistance to meet the skill shortage within the Iraqi administration, public health, women’s rights and Iraq’s secular constitution.

Speaking on the level of UK and European investment in Iraq’s economy, Baroness Nicholson stated:

“The possibilities for EU investors now throughout Iraq, not just in northern Kurdistan, are very large indeed. I look to Her Majesty’s Government and to member states to do all that is possible to encourage EU companies to take up the opportunities. Other nations are doing so and we are being left behind.”

Discussing the lack of skills within the Iraqi administration, Baroness Nicholson said:

“In Iraq, at all levels of the administration, there is a profound lack in skills in this most important area, but we can help. This crucial gap gives the European Union a chance to show our special skills in capacity and institution building as well as in training.”  She continued, “To help Iraq reverse the dismal administrative situation it inherited we need to make close partnerships with the public service ministries, particularly health, which is a key priority for Prime Minister Maliki to help in building up a functioning and significantly less corrupt public sector.”

Baroness Nicholson went on to say:

“Then there are the issues of how to frame and progress laws and the essential links that are still missing between Ministers and their civil servants in drafting laws and for Parliament in progressing them. Proper parliamentary procedures are still not in place. Those needs are vital and we can help.”

Concluding her comments, Baroness Nicholson said:

“If there is a lesson to learn, I suggest that we should not allow past challenges to inhibit and cloud the future. We should not use yesterday’s problems to stop moving forward. We must move on.”

END