Iraq, Saudi Arabia discuss strengthening trade relations

Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, yesterday met with the Saudi Ambassador to Iraq, Abdulaziz Al-Shammari, to discuss strengthening bilateral ties between the two countries.

The Iraqi presidency said in a statement that the pair discussed “ways to enhance joint cooperation between Baghdad and Riyadh.”

“The two officials also discussed the activation of trade exchange between the two countries,” the statement added. The meeting comes following recent meetings of the Iraqi-Saudi Coordinating Council, which resulted in a number of agreements in various fields and sectors.

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Last month Iraq and Saudi Arabia reopened the Arar border crossing for trade exchanges 30 years after it was closed.

Iraq and Saudi Arabia agreed in July 2019 on the customs mechanisms to be adopted at the Arar border crossing for the inauguration of trade movement between the two countries.

Saudi Arabia resumed diplomatic relations with Iraq in December 2015, after they were severed for 25 years following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990.