Syrian premier Mohammed Naji Otri arrived in Baghdad on Saturday in a bid to boost economic ties between the two neighbours, which only re-established full diplomatic relations four months ago.
Otri's visit is his first to Iraq since an April 2009 trip in which he pledged to support reconstruction in the war-torn country, and comes after the two sides ended a year-long row in September.
"He arrived, and an official welcoming ceremony was held at the airport," said Ali Mussawi, an aide to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.
"The visit is firstly to congratulate Iraq on forming the government," Mussawi added, referring to the December 21 formation of an administration more than nine months after parliamentary elections.
"It is also a business visit -- a big delegation including Syria's oil, finance and economy ministers has come with him -- and the visit will be about implementing previous agreements."
During a visit by Maliki to Damascus in October, the two countries signed an agreement for a pipeline to export up to 2.75 million barrels of crude oil per day from Iraq through Syria to Mediterranean seaports.
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