WEBVTT

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Yeah on behalf of the Department of

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Defense uh in the U . S . Government .

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Thank you for assembling with us here

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today . Took for us to provide an

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update on task force for business and

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stability operations in Iraq the status

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of our industrial revitalization

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efforts . In partnership with the

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Minister of Industry and Minerals . His

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Excellency Fawzi Hariri very pleased to

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have with us here today . Um a brief

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statement about our status and then I

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will turn over to my colleague . Um

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This is the 10th visit

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extended engagement in Iraq that we

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have made since last May . Uh We've

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been now in country for a little over

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4.5 weeks . Um The

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effort , in terms of status this month ,

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we continue to work in partnership with

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the Minister of Industry to restart and

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reinvigorate idled or near idled

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industrial capacity in Iraq . Um We did

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bring a group of 15 business executives ,

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Western and international and american

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obviously business executives uh to

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Iraq this month focused in the

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Kurdistan region as well as Mosul and

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other areas of the north um where we

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engage the business communities in the

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northern area and discussions that have

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already resulted in negotiations

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underway to engage in joint ventures

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partnerships and business startups in

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those areas where there's great

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stability in the north . This is part

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of a continuing effort we've had that

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we briefed before in this uh very

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environment , uh bringing businessmen

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from the international business

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community to Iraq to engage in dialogue

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with their colleagues and their

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partners to extend the hand of Economic

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partnership to the business community

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here and to provide uh an economic

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uplift and access to prosperity uh to

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the Iraqi people focusing in the areas

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where there is stability in the south

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and the north and and even here in

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areas of Baghdad where stability has

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been restored . We're also pleased in

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close partnership with the Minister of

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Finance , His Excellency Bayan Jabar uh

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to announce uh additional

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uh set of loans ,

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low interest loans of fixed terms to

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help our efforts to restart Iraqi

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industries , totally $20 million .

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These will support 24 different factory

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operations , uh many in Baghdad

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uh and other places in the country . Um

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This is part of our effort to partner

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with the Government of Iraq to restore

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industrial operations uh to

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reemploy sizable numbers of people here

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in Iraq and to restore normalcy to

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areas of the country where stability

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exists . Um Again , our process is to

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engage these industrial operations to

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get them restarted , to help restore

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intra Iraqi demand and the ties of

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commerce that existed before . And we

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are working in partnership with the

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Government of Iraq to reestablish

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between different areas of the country ,

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but also to provide access for the

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global community , the global economic

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community to these industrial

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operations . We continue to work

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contract negotiations with Western

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retailers , as well as heavier

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industrial operations in the west , who

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are negotiating with the Minister of

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Industry and directly with plant

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managers here in Iraq to move work here

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to acquire goods made in Iraq and we

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continue to see progress on this front .

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Uh And that's a very exciting

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development yesterday , uh we have

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uh thought a remarkable visit by the

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commanding general uh Petraeus to not

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job to one of the most uh inspiring

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locations I think in Iraq , a very

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large textile factory where 1800 Iraqis

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have now returned to work as a result

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of our collaborative effort with the

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Minister of Industry and the clothing

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made in that factory again is being

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reviewed by Western retail outlets .

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And our expectation is that we'll be

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clothing from that particular operation

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in Western retail outlets by this fall .

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Um So without further comment from me ,

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I will turn over to my colleague for

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his opening comments . And then the two

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of us will take your questions again ,

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a great honor to have with me today ,

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his Excellency Minister of Industry and

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Minerals with the Government of Iraq .

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Mr Fawzi Hariri . Mhm .

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With

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uh giving me the opportunity

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uh to present our

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vision and the our Ministry for the

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efforts with that are done by you and

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your team uh to support

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the companies are related to our

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ministry and also everyone who is

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working with uh as you know ,

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with the Iraqi government

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is uh is heading to

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change economic uh to the

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best uh those who work with

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everyone and especially in Iraq now ,

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uh the Iraqi market is not , it's not

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the Iraqi market to uh compete

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with other countries and and what's

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coming from other countries to do the

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situation here . And despite that , and

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because of the scientific with

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experiences that we have now and the uh

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and the sacrifices that our people are

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doing in our ministry , we are doing

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our best to withdraw

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uh you to also

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uh the situation of the ministry , uh

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The previous Prime Minister , Geoffrey ,

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has decided that the our ministry

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should

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uh

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this year , also ,

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uh the Ministry of

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uh of Industry did not receive any

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funding uh or any increase in their

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salary . And this is a problem for us .

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Uh Still , we're

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still working to uh

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work as many factories as we can to

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sell our products to the local

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market and also the Western market uh

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to to energy salaries for everyone .

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And I'm so confident that the Ministry

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of uh Industry can overcome the

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situation that we're going through . Uh

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I'm also that according to the plan

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that we're working on right now , and

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one of them is uh right called Breaking

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and his team are doing to giving

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support to getting technical support to

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locate some of the needs of these

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companies . And also to coordinating

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uh coordinating also between

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the the Ministry of Treasury and that

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we're going to provide some loans to

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all the companies of the Ministry of

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Industry that will also provide the

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these companies chances to work and

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expand their product or

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also any other raw material to increase

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their product , the product also and

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following this example and

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uh there's also a

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plan now to open some of the

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factories of the industry , the

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Ministry of Industry to to to

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investments of Iraqi and Arabic

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investment open to these investments .

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And also believe that the development

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of the Iraqi industry should include a

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cooperation with international

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companies to fill the gap in technology

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that happened uh in the world in the

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past 3 , 30 years during which

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Iraq has been undergoing through war .

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And that's why uh our

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team from the department of depends

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uh the job they're doing by supplying

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us and providing us would support . I

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think that this is the thing that we

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welcome and it is so tangible by us .

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And it's one of the basic things that

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we we uh uh we've

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witnessed and and the best we were many

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studies and researches . But now uh we

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see tangible things on the ground by uh

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by visit uh

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also uh as the

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uh the factories as you mentioned

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uh like factories in measure that will

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make use of the loans that body by the

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Minister of Industry to support this

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operation . So that's why we are

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committed in the industry to go forward

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with this uh operations as well

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guarantee so much for the everyone in

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our industry and I'm ready to answer

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any questions . Thank you .

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Uh

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huh . What have you done concerning

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the uh what have you done about the

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project in camp Victory ?

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Uh

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to negotiate with Iraqi and uh you

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think uh that electricity uh

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will be enough for those ?

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Uh

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huh .

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Mhm Okay , so the

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first question I I have the

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every factory in Iraq is facing a set

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of constraints . Um some are very

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modern and have modern management , the

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only required demand . Some

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uh is excellently . Minister Hariri

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mentioned um requires some investment

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in order to be able to restore

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production operations . Many have no

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electricity . Uh the majority do have

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electricity that there are , those that

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do not have electricity . Um and those ,

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I would categorize one of two ways

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where they were electricity requirement

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is low , meaning a generator can be

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dropped in locally fuel based generator

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and that's economically feasible .

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There were partnering to do that to

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restore power um where that's not

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possible . And in many cases , some of

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these larger , more naturally

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productive industries here in Iraq

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cement , mineral processing , um

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chemical processing . These all require

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massive amounts of electricity and they

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can only be effectively restored when

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the electrical grid is up and

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operational . And that obviously

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continues to be a major challenge here

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in Iraq , given the terrible state that

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the electrical grid was in uh you know ,

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massive investment continues to be made

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in that infrastructure and that is not

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our direct area of responsibility , but

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where we see that problem , those are

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constraints that make it very difficult

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to restart a factory and there's no

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easy solution to that that will require

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time and effort . I

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the

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uh the

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Ministry of Electricity , electricity

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is is facing a great challenge and this

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and this is not a problem that the

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problem that the minister could handle

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our ministry had the

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uh the support also .

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So uh during the second

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question , I think the numbers we have

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concerning the factories and the

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reports that were here in the record

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about half million and including the

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military industries that was resolved

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by the uh because the coalition

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provisional authority uh

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uh as far as the three

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concerned , the challenges that you

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mentioned uh concerning electricity is

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just one of the challenges wannabe

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other challenges to the destruction

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that uh event on this

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uh factories like like the

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yogurt company that was and factory

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that was destroyed . And uh we were

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able and we were able to get about $8

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million to rehabilitate rehabilitate

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these factory that we have to take also

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the security situation in this .

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Uh there are so many

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workers in the ministry and uh we said

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that we're going to bring uh many

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political politically dismissed people

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into the ministry . And uh there are

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over 3% of the Iraqi factors are not

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working right now because uh due to

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shortage in gas and electricity . And

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there are so many things in these

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factories that need to be rehabilitated

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uh uh and

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many other factories like the factory

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of Ireland where also destroyed . So

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one of the projects that we uh we

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presented in May that

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uh we're optimistic

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about the money that will come

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to uh

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in which it will participate in

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uh increasing the industry in Iraq .

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All those factories that are working

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out in Iraq . I'm not in the data

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that re desire and we hope . But

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due to the , due to the security that

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your security situation ,

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uh , lack of electricity

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and gas , uh , all the achievements

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should be really thankful and everyone

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and everything that is being done

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should be really thankful uh