Baghdad – IA – Wissam Al-Mulla
Today, Sunday, Minister of Finance, Taif Sami, signed with the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to the Republic of Iraq, Futoshi Matsumoto, a memorandum of understanding and a loan worth $300 million from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), for a project to improve water supply in Samawah.
Sami said in her speech on the sidelines of the signing, which was attended by the correspondent of the (INA): “In implementation of what was stated in the ministerial curriculum, which focused on the necessity of advocating valid borrowing for economically viable investment projects, and in completion of what the Iraqi government began in terms of cooperation on the economic level with the government.” Japan, the Iraqi government began borrowing from the Japanese side to finance a project to improve water supply processing in Al-Muthanna Governorate and the city of Samawah.
She explained, “The project will contribute to developing the amount of potable water in this governorate and the effective use of water resources through the establishment of water treatment and desalination plants in the city of Samawah, in addition to installing water lines from the main station to sub-pumping stations and then to the end user, which in turn will contribute to Increasing processing hours and water quality, thus contributing to the stability of the supply of treated drinking water prepared from the project and enhancing economic and social development in the city.”
She continued, “A loan for the project to improve water supply processing in Samawah was signed for an amount of more than 45 billion Japanese yen, equivalent to approximately 300 million dollars, in implementation of what was stated in Federal Budget Law No. 13 of 2023, and we hope that the project will be implemented smoothly and according to the timetable set for the project.” “To serve the public interest and to provide the people of the governorate with drinking water.”
For his part, the Japanese Ambassador to Iraq, Futoshi Matsumoto, confirmed during the signing ceremony that “the project aims to provide safe drinking water to the people of Samawah, through the establishment of the first large-scale water treatment plant in the governorate, and upon its completion, the project will be able to supply the local population with water for more than 12 An hour a day,” noting that “Samawah is a symbol of the close friendship between Japan and Iraq, since the year 2024 marks the twentieth anniversary of the deployment of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces in Samawah.”
He expressed his happiness “at signing the new Samawah project at this time,” noting that “the government of Japan has provided a loan from JICA to build about 30 huge infrastructure projects in Iraq so far.”
He added, “We have focused in particular on the water sector as it is the basic infrastructure, and Japanese assistance has extended to water supply facilities from southern to northern Iraq, specifically in Basra, Halabja, Sulaymaniyah, Erbil, and Dohuk.”
He expressed “thanks for the efforts made to revitalize the Iraqi economy,” pointing out “proposing 5 projects, including a two-stage loan project for the year 2024, and looking forward to seeing the largest number of them to be included in the 2024 budget.”
He reiterated his country’s “commitment to continuing support for the government and people of Iraq in order to strengthen bilateral relations.”