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BAGHDAD - Obtaining visas and residency for foreign oil and electricity workers will be sped up in a bid to boost the economy.
The government will streamline the bureaucracy foreign workers face to a mere two-week waiting period instead of months after heeding complaints from several overseas companies.
Faisal al-Abdullah, the spokesman for the Prime Minister's Deputy for Economic Affairs, Hussein al-Shahristani, told AKnews that: "Granting visas and residence permissions may take two or three months and this causes delay in the work of companies.
"An agreement was reached during the meeting between the Ministry of Oil, Nationality and Intelligence to grant visas within a period of no more than 14 days."
Oil imports constitute about 95 % of the country's financial budget, and Iraq needs billions of dollars for the reconstruction of its crumbling infrastructure.
Initially predictions that national production would reach 12 million barrels per day by 2017 have been tempered by oil minister Abdul Karim Luaibi's more conservative estimate.
He said months ago that between 8m to 8.5m barrels per day would be a more appropriate target, but this could take 13 or 14 more years.
Current production is at 2,900 million barrels a day, and huge increase from just 1,600m to 1,900m barrels per day in 2009.
Experts in the Iraqi economy have long considered such action to be necessary and view the government's recent moves to be very important, particularly at a time of remarkable development.
Mohammed, a member of the Kurdish Blocs Coalition (KBC) said: "Iraq is going through a period where it needs the efforts and expertise of others to increase the oil, agricultural and industrial productions.
"Concessions granted to foreign companies operating in Iraq can overcome the last obstacles."
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The government will streamline the bureaucracy foreign workers face to a mere two-week waiting period instead of months after heeding complaints from several overseas companies.
Faisal al-Abdullah, the spokesman for the Prime Minister's Deputy for Economic Affairs, Hussein al-Shahristani, told AKnews that: "Granting visas and residence permissions may take two or three months and this causes delay in the work of companies.
"An agreement was reached during the meeting between the Ministry of Oil, Nationality and Intelligence to grant visas within a period of no more than 14 days."
Oil imports constitute about 95 % of the country's financial budget, and Iraq needs billions of dollars for the reconstruction of its crumbling infrastructure.
Initially predictions that national production would reach 12 million barrels per day by 2017 have been tempered by oil minister Abdul Karim Luaibi's more conservative estimate.
He said months ago that between 8m to 8.5m barrels per day would be a more appropriate target, but this could take 13 or 14 more years.
Current production is at 2,900 million barrels a day, and huge increase from just 1,600m to 1,900m barrels per day in 2009.
Experts in the Iraqi economy have long considered such action to be necessary and view the government's recent moves to be very important, particularly at a time of remarkable development.
Mohammed, a member of the Kurdish Blocs Coalition (KBC) said: "Iraq is going through a period where it needs the efforts and expertise of others to increase the oil, agricultural and industrial productions.
"Concessions granted to foreign companies operating in Iraq can overcome the last obstacles."
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
