IDB manages 8% of trade exchange between Iraq, UAE

 IDB manages 8% of trade exchange between Iraq, UAE

IDB’s first branch in Dubai, the UAE. Photo: International Development Bank

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – Iraq’s International Development Bank (IDB) and the UAE’s Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry launched the ‘Together’ initiative, aiming to provide the necessary support and create joint investment opportunities for institutions and the private sector in Iraq and the UAE.

The IDB’s chairman, Ziyad Khalaf, said that this step will contribute to increasing the volume of trade exchange between the two countries, which is now $27 billion annually, according to Al-Arabiya News.

“We are looking forward to deepening the economic partnership between Iraq and the UAE to reach joint economic integration,” Khalaf explained.

Khalaf illustrated that the economic trade relationship between the UAE and Iraq is special, adding that the UAE is Iraq’s first trading partner with an annual trade volume estimated at $27 billion and a growth rate of no less than six percent.

“I think we will be able to increase the growth rate of trade exchange between the two countries in the coming period. The IDB launched its services in the UAE a year ago and currently manages about eight percent of trade exchange between the two countries,” the IDB’s chairman clarified.

Khalaf also mentioned that the IDB launched a package of services for private sector companies in Iraq and the UAE, indicating that the bank established strategic partnerships with major institutions in the UAE.

The IDB’s chairman added that its partnership with the UAE’s Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry was signed last June and was completed with the launch of the ‘Together’ initiative between UAE and Iraqi companies.