Iraqi president participates in UAE delegation

Erbil: Jalal Talabani, Iraqi president met the UAE delegation taking part in the 13th conference of the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union ( AIPU) in Erbil, on Wednesday.

Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair, Speaker of the Federal National Council (FNC) who heads the UAE delegation to the conference, conveyed to the Iraqi President, greetings of President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Talabani hailed the noble stand of UAE's leadership and its people at every crisis faced by Iraq, as well as the continuing help and support UAE gives to Iraq to alleviate the sufferings of Iraqi people in the present ordeal.

Talabani noted that Iraq is a country rich in natural resources such as oil, gas and minerals, which have not yet properly been exploited. He added that huge investments may tap these resources in an adequate way.

Talabani pointed out that the government has adopted a policy of supporting privatisation in an effort to end state monopoly in industrial and manufacturing sectors.

Al Ghurair said that UAE's participation in the AIPU in Erbil with a large delegation has also an aim of finding facts in Iraq, so that it can be conveyed to UAE's business community and the potential investors there. But the security situation in Iraq remains an impediment before prospective investments in the region, Al Ghurair added.

In an extended discussion with Talabani, the FNC speaker also shed light on the democratic process in the UAE under the wise leadership of Shaikh Khalifa

Massoud Barazani, President of Iraq's Kurdistan Region also received Al-Ghurair and members of the accompanying delegation.

The meeting also took place on the sidelines of the ( AIPU) conference, in Erbil.