Baghdad-INA

Government spokesperson Haider al-Aboudi said on Tuesday that Prime Minister Ali Falih Al-Zaidi's upcoming visit to Washington is aimed at strengthening the Iraqi-U.S. partnership, adding that economic, trade, and investment issues will be at the forefront of the visit's agenda.

Al-Aboudi told the Iraqi News Agency (INA): "Prime Minister Ali Falih Al-Zaidi official visit to Washington in mid-July aimed at generating the necessary momentum to strengthen the Iraq-U.S. partnership and elevate it to an effective level within the framework of the strategic relationship between the two countries, in accordance with the principle of the mutual interests of the two friendly peoples."

He added that, in line with the Iraqi government's priorities and its ministerial program, which received the confidence of Parliament, economic, trade and investment issues would be at the forefront of the agenda for the upcoming visit, describing them as the cornerstone of bilateral cooperation. He noted that the government seeks to expand the horizons of strategic partnership with global companies and stimulate the investment environment in a manner that contributes to achieving direct benefits for the Iraqi economy and enhancing domestic stability.

Al-Aboudi continued, "As part of this stability, which is based on economic foundations and a flexible management of the current phase's challenges, the Iraqi government is moving forward with addressing the issue of unregulated weapons and working to restrict their possession and use to the state and its competent institutions, as the entities constitutionally authorized to make sovereign decisions in this regard."

Prime Minister Ali Falih Al-Zaidi previously received U.S. President's Special Presidential Envoy Tom Barrack at his office, where they discussed the Iraqi government's shared commitment to establishing a strong and mutually beneficial U.S.-Iraq partnership capable of fulfilling the aspirations of Iraqis for a future marked by sovereignty, security and prosperity, while delivering tangible benefits to both the Iraqi and American peoples.