INA-Baghdad
Prime Minister Ali Faleh Al-Zaidi discusses today, Tuesday, the bilateral strategic interests and partnerships with U.S. President Donald Trump.
The Media Office of the Prime Minister said in a statement received by the Iraqi News Agency (INA) that "Prime Minister Ali Faleh Al-Zaidi met today, Tuesday, with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington, D.C., where they discussed ways to strengthen bilateral relations, expand economic cooperation, and explore opportunities for U.S. companies to participate in Iraq’s development projects, particularly in the oil sector."
The meeting also featured an exchange of views and approaches between Iraq and the United States on bilateral relations, security and intelligence cooperation, and enhancing joint efforts to promote stability across the region.
In remarks following his meeting with President Trump in the Oval Office, Prime Minister Al-Zaidi stated that his visit aims to build a strong economic partnership.
Al-Zaidi said that with the conclusion of the U.S. military presence in Iraq under the International Coalition to Defeat ISIS, there will instead be an economic presence through U.S. companies while stressing that it is people-to-people relations that support economic cooperation rather than a military partnership.
According to the statement, Prime Minister Al-Zaidi explained that the partnership between Iraq and the United States represents a link between one of the world’s oldest civilisations, represented by Iraq, and the heart of the global economy, represented by the United States.
Al-Zaidi emphasised the importance of focusing on opportunities that serve the interests of both the Iraqi and American peoples, adding that Iraq needs a strategic partner of the stature of the United States to overcome the economic and technological challenges it faces.
The Prime Minister affirmed that Iraq’s development plans and the economic partnership it seeks with the United States serve the interests of all parts of Iraq and all its components.
He stressed that efforts to strengthen the economy encompass the Kurdistan Region of Iraq just as they include Basra, Anbar, and the rest of Iraq’s governorates.
For his part, President Trump noted that the United States had supported Iraq in the fight against ISIS and continues to support Prime Minister Al-Zaidi’s government in strengthening stability and advancing economic initiatives that reinforce the bilateral partnership.
He also underscored Iraq’s significant importance in the fields of energy and the global economy.