What Are the Investment and Trade Opportunities in Iraq?

Iraq, officially known as the Republic of Iraq, is a country with a total area of 437,072 km2, with Baghdad as its capital. Due to its location, Iraq shares borders with Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, Kuwait to the southeast, Saudi Arabia to the south, Jordan to the southwest, and Syria to the west. Therefore, it would not be wrong to refer to its location as strategic.

Iraq has made a name for itself in many fields within the investment and trade sector, generating opportunities in these areas. Thanks to its borders with many countries, Iraq has managed to attract the interest of many investors and has avoided losing them with its economy and trade sectors. For this reason, eyes are turned towards investment and trade opportunities in Iraq.

So, what are these opportunities?
As Iraq has started building hotels, shopping centers, markets, and tourist cities, it creates investment and recognition opportunities for these investors. Iraq openly displays its desire to allow the evaluation of the opportunities it creates by leaving doors open for investments in these elements. Especially, the 12,899 companies operating within northern Iraq have materialized Iraq’s investment opportunities.

How Is the Distribution of Investment in Iraq by Sectors?

The most prominent investment sector in Iraq is oil. With 140 billion barrels of crude oil, Iraq ranks 5th in the world with this amount. With its daily crude oil production, it places second immediately after Saudi Arabia when compared to OPEC members.

Iraq, which progresses without stability, has reflected this instability in its sectors that have investment potential. To overcome this, Iraq, which is recovering its economy, is expected to develop and improve from a sectoral perspective. While Iraq advances in this process, it also wants to maintain the sectors it already possesses. These sectors are;
• Industrial Sector
• Construction Sector
• Energy Sector
• Agriculture Sector
• Mining Sector
• Banking Sector
In the industrial sector, Iraq features certain significant institutions. These are oil refining and petrochemical facilities. These two establishments are the main pillars of Iraq's industrial sector. Although Iraq has many sub-branches in industries like paper, plastic, textile products, etc., its main source of income is the oil refining and petrochemical facilities.
- One of Iraq's bleeding wounds, the insufficient electricity production in the country, has led to numerous efforts to improve this situation, making this sector open to investment.
- The construction sector in Iraq is experiencing rapid development. Structuring is being carried out across the country, and therefore, the demand for construction materials is increasing. According to the investment agencies in Iraq, many investments are sought in this sector.
- Iraq primarily produces wheat, barley, rice, and dates. However, over fifty percent is imported from foreign countries. Nevertheless, the agricultural sector is the second largest sector contributing to GDP and is attracting investor interest.
- In the mining sector, there are some resources from which Iraq benefits. These include; oil, natural gas, phosphate, and sulfur. It is estimated that Iraq possesses about 10 billion tons of phosphate, which is a significant number not to be overlooked by investors.
- Although Iraq does not have an advanced banking structure, its development efforts in this area are starting to instill reliability in Iraq. Therefore, this sector is quite important as it aims to increase trust in order to attract investments.

When the above data is reviewed, it is clear that Iraq harbors many sectors and is expecting investment in all of them.

What Are the Advantages of Investing in Iraq?

Investing in any of the many sectors present in Iraq provides economic advantages in return. To mention these advantages;
• Gaining insight into the market of Iraq, a different country.
• Ensuring cash flow in international situations, making it more favorable compared to other aspects.
• Expanding and improving the communication network.
• Analyzing Iraq’s economy can provide significant advantages in the market.
• Due to Iraq's strategic geopolitical location, it offers the benefit of easier access to many countries such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, Iran, and Kuwait.
These are the advantages.

As can be seen above, investing in Iraq also brings many advantages. These advantages are crucial for a country or state to demonstrate its competitive national market and sustain itself.

5 Reasons to Invest in Iraq

The first concern for institutions or organizations considering investment in Iraq is why it would make sense to invest there. These reasons are categorized under 5 headings as follows;
• Hosting a significant portion of crude oil and the high value of oil in the 21st century.
• Having many sectors that are open to investment and innovation in their markets.
• Being able to establish communication not only with itself but also with many other countries due to its location.
• The high likelihood of investments in sectors being favorable.
• Iraq adopting a more flexible policy towards investors, acting as an open door for investment.
All these reasons have been sufficient to convince past investors and continue to do so. Because Iraq is a source of investment contrary to a country that investors might consider overlooking.

How to Establish a Company to Invest in Iraq?

Although Iraq has more open doors to investment compared to other countries, there are certain documents that need to be fulfilled for establishing a company. These are;
• A copy of the contract of the company's establishment or a document stating the members of the executive board and the individual authorized to sign
• A copy of the license application form
• The registration certificate that will ensure the validity of the company
• A copy of the auditor's report to reveal the financial situation of the company, delivery of a document confirming its legal and financial obligations
• A copy of the power of attorney prepared for the managing individual
• Appointment of a representative for company registration
• Approval document from official departments.
These are the documents.

Once these documents are obtained, they are submitted to the relevant authorized department, and a company is successfully established in Iraq for investment purposes. Thus, the investment spectrum begins to be developed and expanded.