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Baghdad: $14 Billion to Rebuild Infrastructure in Liberated Areas | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Iraqis shop in a Baghdad market back in September. Karim Kadim/AP


Baghdad–The government of Iraq will need around $14 billion to rebuild the country’s basic infrastructure and services in areas liberated from ISIS, an Iraqi official said on Monday.

Abdul Baset Turki, the head of the Reconstruction Fund for Areas Affected by Terrorist Operations (REFAATO), said estimates showed that $14 billion were needed to launch reconstruction projects in ISIS-liberated areas, excluding damages in the city of Mosul and the destruction of residential houses and shops.

The Iraqi official was speaking during an international conference held in Baghdad on Monday to evaluate reconstruction costs of areas liberated from ISIS control in northern and western parts of the country.

The conference gathered 57 companies from 16 Arab and western countries.

Infrastructure of power stations and government facilities in provinces and areas that were under the control of militants suffered significant losses worth billions of dollars, the Iraqi official noted.

The conference was also attended by governors of provinces that are included in the reconstruction plan, as well as representatives from the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI). The conference will stretch over a period of four days.

Last July, Iraq received two billion dollars during a donors’ conference held in Washington D.C. The amount is dedicated for the reconstruction of areas liberated from the grip of ISIS, but estimations suggest that the extent of the damage requires much more.

Iraqi Prime Minister’s economic advisor Mazhar Mohammed Saleh told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that the Baghdad International Fairground was held under the patronage of the prime minister, with the participation of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and many other ministries and international and local organizations.

Saleh added that participants include representatives from Germany, Japan, United States, China, France, and Italy as well as Arab countries including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan. He said that local governments of Baghdad, Mosul, Saladin, Anbar, Diyala, Babel and Kirkuk will also partake in the fair.