Posted on 18 Mar 2006 # ANI

By Iaonnis Solomou , Nicosia: Iran appears prepared to give a helping hand to its erstwhile foe Iraq by investing about one billion dollars in Iraq’s ravaged industrial sector.

A team of Iranian experts is expected to visit Baghdad in the coming weeks to identify business opportunities. Iran’s Exports Promotion Bank has already earmarked some 400 million dollars for the first projects to materialise under the plan.

Usama al-Najafi, the Iraqi Minister of Industry and Minerals, has said that about one billion dollars will be invested in a number of projects, namely a car assembly plant, steel and glass industries and the manufacturing of electrical appliances and transformers.

Although Iran will put down all the money for the investments, it will own only one third of the projects and the rest will be owned by Iraq, which will start paying 10 years after the completion of the projects. Interest will be extremely low, reportedly one percent, so as to really help Iraqi businessmen who will be involved in the projects with their Iranian counterparts.

Last year, Tehran pledged to extend to Iraq a credit facility of the order of one billion dollars which will be used to encourage Iraqis buy more Iranian products.