Turkey to provide $5 billion in credit for Iraqi reconstruction
KUWAIT CITY
Ankara will provide a credit facility of $5 billion to Iraq at a meeting on the country’s reconstruction, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has stated.
“Declared Turkey will provide a credit facility of 5 billion USD to Iraq at the International Conference for Reconstruction of Iraq. As a neighbor, friend and reliable partner, we will always stand by our Iraqi brothers,” Çavuşoğlu said on his Twitter account on Feb. 14.
“We will also provide project support of 50 million dollars to Iraq. Economic, social, cultural projects and aids by TIKA will continue as well,” he added.
Baghdad has said it needs nearly $90 billion to rebuild after a grisly war with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants which devastated homes, schools, hospitals and economic infrastructure, displacing millions of people.Governments from around the world on Feb. 14 pledged billions of dollars in loans and investment for the reconstruction of Iraq, a nation reeling from a three-year war against ISIL.
Iraq secured nearly $25 billion in the first few hours of the final day of an international donors’ conference in Kuwait City, which was still ongoing.The biggest pledge at the gathering in Kuwait thus came from Turkey at the meeting. Kuwait has said it will provide next-door Iraq with $1 billion in loans and another $1 billion in direct investments.
Saudi Arabia has pledged $1.5 billion and Qatar has pledged $1 billion to help rebuild Iraq after the war with ISIL.Britain said it would grant Iraq export credit of up to $1 billion per year for a decade.The United States said on Feb. 13 that it was extending a $3 billion credit line but has not provided any direct government assistance.
The United Arab Emirates pledged $500 million while Germany pledged 350 million euros.The European Union’s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said the bloc would invest 400 million euros, in addition to individual contributions from member states.International NGOs have so far pledged $330 million in humanitarian assistance.
‘Whole world owes debt to Iraq’
U.N. chief Antonio Guterres on Feb. 14 sought to motivate donors, saying it was incumbent on the international community to back Iraq after its sacrifices against ISIL.
“The whole world owes you a debt for your struggle against the deadly global threat posed by Daesh (ISIL),” Guterres said, in comments directed at the Iraqi delegation, as quoted by AFP.
“It is time to demonstrate our lasting gratitude and solidarity with the Iraqi people,” he said.
Guterres highlighted two key U.N.-backed initiatives, for which he was seeking support.
“The U.N. Development Program’s Funding Facility for Stabilization is working in 25 cities and districts, supporting the return of displaced people to their homes,” the U.N. chief said, adding that 2.5 million remained displaced.
He also announced a new, two-year Recovery and Resilience Program.
“It aims to make immediate and tangible improvements to people’s daily lives, rather than the long timelines associated with major infrastructure projects and economic reforms,” he said