Making Iraq Great Again: Can Protectionist Policies Solve the Country’s Worst Problems?

02/08/2019
564 3 minutes read

Iraq desperately needs more private sector growth, in order to provide jobs. Some new anti-import policies seem to be working.

 

Mustafa Habib, Baghdad

Over the past few weeks, protectionist policies instituted by the Iraqi government have borne fruit. The Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture announced last week that, for the first time in recent history, wheat production in the country had exceeded demand.

Iraq had produced 4.75 million tonnes of wheat this year – for the first time since 2003, and the US-led invasion of the country, Iraq had achieved self-sufficiency in this area.

Wheat is just one of the 16 agricultural crops that the Iraqi government decided to stop importing. The others include tomatoes and fruits, and the move was seen as a way to force the country to become less dependent on exports and to encourage job creation. For locals, domestic fruits and vegetables were available at markets in number this season, something that would have been unusual in the recent past.

Earlier this month, the Iraqi government also decided to stop importing eggs and chickens from neighbouring Turkey and Iran. Pasta was another Turkish product that was no longer welcome. This caused the Turkish ambassador to demand a meeting with the Iraqi minister of agriculture but, in reply to complaints, the latter said that local production could cover local demand.

It is not only in the agricultural area that Iraq is instituting these kinds of policies. In January 2016, the previous government, led by former prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, made what was described as a historic decision to ban the import of cement, most of which comes from Iran. Prices fell by almost half, to US$50 a tonne. Cement originally cost around US$90 a tonne and builders also thought the Iraqi cement was superior to imported varieties.

“After the decision was made to ban the import of cement, we believe it led to a further US$600 million being spent on the product locally,” suggests Hussein Mohsen Al-Khafaj, manager of the Iraqi General Company for Cement.

“In the past few months, after the government introduced these import bans, my staff has gone from 15 to 25,” boasted Salman al-Tai, the owner of a small factory making bricks.

After 2003, Iraq was thrust into the globalized, free market system after decades of having been a fairly protected and socialist state run by autocratic former leader Saddam Hussein. His government tended to impose big import duties and also suffered under sanctions, which meant domestic production thrived. After US forces entered Iraq in 2003, overthrowing that government, the country became a marketplace for the formal and informal transfer of goods from throughout the region.

But opening up the country like this was not well thought out, argues local economist Anwar Saeed. “Iraq’s transition to the capitalist system saw a near total collapse of local industry and agriculture,” he told Al Menassa. “Thousands of factories stopped working almost overnight and farms turned into arid wastelands. All of this made Iraq dependent on imports, which devastated the economy further. And it poses a serious security threat,” Saeed noted.

The success of these protectionist policies may also be having a positive impact on one of the country’s most pressing problems: unemployment. The country runs as something of a rentier economy – that is, all of the nation’s income comes from the production of oil, the proceeds of which go mostly back to the government. The government then disburses these funds through the national budget, often by providing civil service or military jobs. In fact, the Iraqi government is the biggest employer in the land – but as the population grows and oil revenues have fluctuated, even the government is running out of jobs to hand out.

In 2013, the Iraqi government offered locals 100,000 jobs. In 2018, due to budget cuts, thanks to oil prices and the cost of the security crisis caused by the extremist group known as the Islamic State, they offered 30,000. This year, they have managed to introduce 65,000 vacancies, as oil prices have recovered. But it’s still not enough to employ all of the Iraqis aged between 18 and 30.

Often it is these young men, who are unable to marry or otherwise participate fully in society because they don’t have jobs, who end up in anti-government protests. Thousands of science and engineering graduates have demonstrated outside government ministries, demanding jobs that are just not there.

Growth in the private sector is needed urgently.

Not everybody is happy about the positive news on protectionist policies though. During May and June this year, there were a wave of fires on farms, often targeting wheat and barley fields. A source in Iraqi civil defence, who was not authorised to comment, told Al Menassa that there had been 178 fires set in the space of two months.

Various explanations were given, including extremist attacks and the very hot weather. But as one politician put it, those who benefit from a corrupt system and illegal trade probably have the most to lose if Iraq becomes more self-sufficient and stops importing so much.

 

02/08/2019
564 3 minutes read

Related Articles

Photo of HIGH DANGER: The Dying Art of Climbing a Date Palm

HIGH DANGER: The Dying Art of Climbing a Date Palm

10/09/2022
Photo of DOUBLE THE PAIN: In underfunded, overcrowded Basra hospitals, birthing mothers are abused

DOUBLE THE PAIN: In underfunded, overcrowded Basra hospitals, birthing mothers are abused

31/03/2022
Photo of HAUNTED POST BOXES: Visiting Nasiriyah’s 1,000 abandoned letter boxes and the men who used to service them

HAUNTED POST BOXES: Visiting Nasiriyah’s 1,000 abandoned letter boxes and the men who used to service them

25/01/2022
Photo of ON REPEAT: The Sunni Speaker of Parliament returns. Will the same happen for Iraq’s prime minister and president?

ON REPEAT: The Sunni Speaker of Parliament returns. Will the same happen for Iraq’s prime minister and president?

25/01/2022

212 Comments

  3. Amazing things here. I am very happy to peer your
    post. Thanks a lot and I am looking ahead to contact you.
    Will you please drop me a mail?

  6. We’re a bunch of volunteers and starting a brand new scheme
    in our community. Your web site provided us with helpful information to work on. You have performed a formidable activity and
    our whole community will likely be thankful to
    you.

  9. Wonderful blog! I found it while browsing on Yahoo News.
    Do you have any suggestions on how to get listed in Yahoo News?

    I’ve been trying for a while but I never seem to get there!
    Thanks

  12. Hello everyone, it’s my first pay a visit at this web page, and
    post is truly fruitful designed for me, keep up posting such articles or
    reviews.

  17. What’s up, yes this article is in fact nice and I have learned lot of things from it regarding
    blogging. thanks.

  20. I’m not sure exactly why but this site is loading very slow for me.
    Is anyone else having this issue or is it a problem on my end?
    I’ll check back later and see if the problem still exists.

  21. Asking questions are truly nice thing if you are not understanding something fully,
    however this article gives fastidious understanding even.

  23. Does your blog have a contact page? I’m having problems locating it but, I’d like to shoot
    you an email. I’ve got some recommendations for your blog you might be
    interested in hearing. Either way, great blog and I look forward to seeing it expand over time.

  31. I know this if off topic but I’m looking into starting my own blog and was curious what all is required to get setup?
    I’m assuming having a blog like yours would cost a pretty penny?
    I’m not very internet savvy so I’m not 100% sure.
    Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated.

    Cheers quest bars http://bitly.com/3jZgEA2 quest bars

  32. Hey I am so excited I found your blog page,
    I really found you by mistake, while I was searching on Yahoo for something else, Nonetheless I am here now and
    would just like to say thanks a lot for a marvelous post and a all round interesting blog (I also love the theme/design), I don’t have time
    to browse it all at the minute but I have saved it and also included your RSS feeds, so when I have time I will be back to read more, Please do keep up the excellent jo.
    scoliosis surgery https://coub.com/stories/962966-scoliosis-surgery scoliosis surgery

  34. Howdy! I know this is kind of off-topic but I
    had to ask. Does running a well-established blog such as yours take a large amount of work?
    I’m brand new to writing a blog but I do write in my diary
    daily. I’d like to start a blog so I can easily share my own experience
    and views online. Please let me know if you have any
    kind of suggestions or tips for brand new aspiring blog owners.
    Appreciate it! ps4 games https://bitly.com/3z5HwTp ps4

  35. With havin so much written content do you ever run into any problems of plagorism or copyright
    infringement? My website has a lot of completely unique content I’ve either authored myself
    or outsourced but it seems a lot of it is popping it up all over the web without my permission. Do
    you know any ways to help stop content from being ripped off?
    I’d definitely appreciate it. quest bars https://www.iherb.com/search?kw=quest%20bars quest bars

  55. My partner and I absolutely love your blog and find
    nearly all of your post’s to be exactly what I’m looking for.
    can you offer guest writers to write content for yourself?
    I wouldn’t mind publishing a post or elaborating on many of the
    subjects you write related to here. Again, awesome site!

  78. Thank you a bunch for sharing this with all folks you actually know what you’re talking about!
    Bookmarked. Kindly also discuss with my site
    =). We could have a link exchange agreement between us

  83. Please let me know if you’re looking for a article writer
    for your weblog. You have some really great posts and I feel I would be a good asset.
    If you ever want to take some of the load off, I’d really like to write
    some material for your blog in exchange for a link back to mine.
    Please shoot me an email if interested. Kudos!

  86. Potentially reversible Diseases of the Renal and Genitourinary System DiSeaSeS of the Renal anD GenitouRinaRy SyStem l FiGuRe causes of AKI. Plaquenil Viagra Suppliers Uk

  87. Greetings! Quick question that’s completely off topic.

    Do you know how to make your site mobile friendly? My website looks weird when browsing
    from my iphone. I’m trying to find a theme or plugin that might be able to fix this issue.
    If you have any suggestions, please share. Many thanks!

    Feel free to surf to my web blog … https://glo-gadget.blogspot.com/2022/02/the-best-stovetop-espresso-makers.html

  167. I’m extremely impressed with your writing abilities and also with the layout on your blog.
    Is that this a paid subject or did you modify it your self?
    Anyway stay up the nice high quality writing, it’s rare
    to see a nice blog like this one nowadays..

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

Back to top button