Iraq is on his way to amend the Labor Act to improve the investment climate

Iraq is on his way to make amendments to the Labor Act in accordance with the size of the ongoing and emerging investment projects and the targeted economic mobility during the upcoming period, in addition to the control of foreign workers who are not registered, according to the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Ahmed Al -Aasadi. He said in an interview with “Al -Sharq” that the amount of investment projects currently being $ 90 billion and other projects that the government wants to start requiring a labor legislation that meets the large size of the required employment and regulates the work of foreigners. The Iraqi government seeks to improve the business environment in order to attract local and foreign investment to develop -oil sectors, contributing to the achievement of sustainable economic growth and reducing oil -income dependence. Al -Asadi said that the problems of limiting the Ministry of Labor to foreign labor in the country came from the multitude of donors to access visas, from foreign embassies and consulates and the Ministry of Home Affairs to the Ministry of Petroleum and the visas that were granted at local airports, which did not need it for the Minister of Labor. There is also a major evasion of the registration of workers in the retirement and guarantee department. “Surprising inspection campaigns added:” There is no accurate data on the number of foreign workers in the country, but approximate surveys indicate that there are about 800 thousand foreign workers in Iraq, of which 100 thousand are registered in the guarantee department. ” He revealed that the ministry intends to contract with a private company to start sudden inspection campaigns in the various sectors to control the disorganized labor. At the beginning of this year, the Health Insurance Fund obliged all foreign expatriates and residents to obtain the national insurance policy at the Health Insurance Authority at the Insurance Bureau, and emphasized that “the acquisition of expatriates for expatriates is one of the most important conditions to obtain the Iraqi visa,” according to the IRAQI news agency. Al -Asadi has promised to implement the valid Labor Act, which includes the operation of local workers in the private sector to control the number of foreign workers, especially because foreign workers are also exacerbated by the problem of providing hard currencies as workers convert them abroad. As for the ministry’s support for individuals’ projects, the Iraqi official noted that the lending fund capital has increased from 262 billion dinars to 1.2 trillion dinars, which contributed to creating an environment that encourages private projects, contributing to the creation of jobs. The Iraq unemployment rate dropped from 16.5% in 2022 to 13.5% last year, according to Al -Asadi, who considered it a good decline, and promised to keep working to create jobs and reduce unemployment by more.