Iraqi Parliament admits Basra as economic capital

Chairman of the Committee on Economy and Investment, Ahmed El Kanani confirmed in a press conference that, number of Basra parliament members voted and agreed to make Basra Iraq’s economic capital that will help to develop the country economy.

Basra is north of Iraq, 449 km from Baghdad, and it’s considered Iraq’s only marine port, and one of the richest governorates with oil. It has many oil farms like, Rumaila, West Qurna and Shuaiba fields and Magnon, and it obtains 80% of oil and gas reserves, while its imports represent 70% of public budget. Basra also has 3 million workers and administrative borders with three neighboring countries and 3 local governorates.

Basra PM, Khalaf Abdel Samad said during the conference that, the law will strengthen Basra economically, and Iraq is benefiting a lot from the governorate, stressing the need to complete the projects that will improve Basra’s  economic position like, Faw Port, which will be a connection point between Asia and Europe.

The Iraqi parliament session was held on Thursday, headed by Selim Al Jabori, and attended by 180 members. The session was held to discuss naming alternative capitals, which isn’t considered a strange habit for many developed countries, in order to increase its economic growth, like economic, cultural and entertainment capitals.