Tue, Nov 19, 2013
by Ryan Burkhart
In an interview with Diplomatic Courier’s Ryan Burkhart, Ambassador Faily spoke about Iraq's relations with Iran, the conflict and refugee crisis in Syria, as well as oil exports and production and efforts to counter terrorism.
On the issue of government corruption, Ambassador Faily explained Iraq’s success in implementing the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), an international standard for disclosing revenues from natural resources. “Iraq successfully introduced transparent reporting mechanisms that allow citizens to see how much revenue the country receives from oil and gas. Iraq was proud to become only one of two EITI-compliant countries in the Middle East,” said Ambassador Faily.
The Ambassador also expressed his optimism about Iraq’s future, particularly in regards to clean energy and the rapidly growing economy.
“Iraq is a country with unlimited potential, and our economic development is a testament to this. The country is moving towards a market economy and offers unrealized opportunities to businesses, entrepreneurs and investors that cannot be found anywhere else in the region. We are continuously strengthening our democracy. While we recognize that we have a load road ahead, our political stakeholders share a common vision for national reconciliation to support this democratic effort in our country,” said Ambassador Faily.
Read Ambassador Faily’s entire interview here.
To read the full piece from Diplomatic Courier, click here.