Egypt’s Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat and Iraqi Minister of Trade Alaa Al-Jabouri are to chair a ministerial level meeting on Friday in Baghdad, as a part of the Egyptian-Iraqi High Committee.

The meeting will be followed by another meeting chaired by the prime ministers of the two countries scheduled for Saturday.

On Wednesday, a meeting of experts from the joint committee was held in Baghdad and was chaired by Tariq Al-Shaarawi, Adviser to the Minister of International Cooperation and Supervisor of the Arab and African Cooperation Sector, with Walid Habib El Helou, Undersecretary of the Iraqi Ministry of Trade.

The meeting was attended by representatives of 29 Egyptian ministries and agencies. It witnessed the conclusion of the final drafts of documents, which are now ready for signing on Saturday during the Supreme Committee that will be lead by the prime ministers.

The participants were divided into five sub-committees, including the Foreign Affairs and Political Coordination Committee, the Commercial, Investment and Financial Affairs Committee, the Consular and Judicial Affairs, Security and Human Resources Committee, the Technical, Production and Energy Affairs Committee, as well as the Legal Review and Drafting Committee for Agreements.

Through enhancing economic diplomacy between the two countries, the joint committee will encourage investments between the countries, particularly in industry, agriculture, energy, tourism and construction, Minister Al-Mashat stated.

In September, Al-Mashat met with the ambassador of Iraq and permanent representative to the Arab League Ahmed Nayef Al-Dulaimi, in Cairo, to discuss developments of the Egyptian-Iraqi Joint Higher Committee, where they emphasised Egypt’s keen interest to grow relations with Iraq in all economic cooperation aspects.

On his side, Al-Dulaimi held a series of meetings with Egypt’s ministers of housing, investment, industry, and international cooperation to discuss the role of Egyptian companies in the reconstruction of Iraq.

The head of the federation of Arab contractors estimates that Iraq requires between $150-$200 billion for reconstruction.