Baghdad Minister of Planning Khaled Batal Al-Najm, who is visiting the United States of America at the head of a government delegation, which included Minister of Immigration and Displacement Evan Faeq Jabro and a number of officials from the Ministries of Planning and Immigration and Displacement, held a series of meetings and discussions with officials and US government agencies to discuss prospects for joint cooperation between the two countries, in the areas of economic development,and investment, and ways to develop them.

As part of the visit, the Minister met a number of officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Homeland Security and Immigration, as well as officials of the American Institute of Peace and Steve Lotts, head of the Iraqi-American Business Council, within the American Chamber of Commerce, and a group of representatives of development agencies.

The Minister also met with World Bank officials to discuss the work of the Social Fund for Development, the Reconstruction and Recovery Fund, and issues of common interest. On a related level, the Minister of Planning met, at the Iraqi Embassy in Washington, with a number of members of the US Congress.

This visit comes to clarify investment opportunities in Iraq and to encourage American companies and businessmen to invest in various sectors and to discuss cooperation with the Bank, the International Monetary Fund and other parties.

The Minister of Planning had arrived in Washington last Saturday on an official visit that lasts for several days, during which he will hold a series of official meetings with officials and authorities related to the work of the Ministry of Planning.

Source: National Iraqi News Agency