PMCG Partakes in Baghdad Workshop Advising Iraqi Government on Developing and Stabilizing Economy

On November 22-23, PMCG participated in an international workshop hosted by the Government of Iraq and organized by USAID in collaboration with the QED Group to discuss ways in which Iraq’s economy can become more stable and to design an action plan for further development.

The event gathered together international development organizations, such as USAID, World Bank, UN Development Program, IFC, World Trade Organization, World Customs Organization and the EU Customs Commission, as well as the U.S. Treasury Department, the U.S. Embassy in Iraq and private sector companies.

H.E. Prime Minister of Iraq, Dr. Haider al-Abaddi, together with his economic adviser Dr. Khaddim and U.S. Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Mr. Jonathan Cohen opened the workshop, highlighting the importance of the event and outlining the weaknesses and challenges of the existing system.

PMCG’s Chairman and CEO, Aleksi Aleksishvili, having sound experience in designing and implementing economic and fiscal reforms in transitional countries, showcased some of the best models for Iraq to enhance its business enabling environment and domestic resource mobilization.

Aleksishvili illustrated specific examples of how other countries managed to streamline tax and customs systems and enhance their economies overall, stressing that a complex approach plays the most important role in the process.

“Despite the existing difficult political environment and institutional weaknesses, the Government of Iraq can definitely find ways of improving tax collection and domestic revenue mobilization, in line with improving the business enabling environment and ensuring better public service supply. PMCG is committed and will contribute to this process with high level policy advisory services, as well as with deep and detailed technical consultancy,” explained Aleksishvili.

The workshop served as an initial step towards developing Iraq’s economy. As a result of the discussion, stakeholders agreed on the crucial areas requiring technical assistance and designed an action plan for the further steps to enhance Iraq’s economy.