Adviser to Iraqi PM calls for ‘green revolution’ through reclaiming desertified land

BAGHDAD — The financial adviser to Iraq’s prime minister called Thursday for a “green revolution” through the reclamation of 5 million dunams of desertified land, describing agriculture as the starting point for economic reform and food security.

Mazhar Mohammed Salih told state newspaper Al-Sabah that Iraq possesses major natural resources “that have not been invested in, and the private sector has not been allowed to form partnerships and invest in them.” He said the desertified land could be developed through a joint holding company bringing together state entities, the private sector and international firms “similar to agricultural licensing rounds,” which he said “will lead to a green revolution beginning with four or five million dunams that secure Iraqi food security.”

Salih described government institutions as “bloated and large” and a burden on the national economy, saying market institutions were being “choked by heavy state institutions.” He called for updating old institutions, revising laws and simplifying procedures, noting that “many administrative complications have become inherited and are not based on a legal foundation.”

On economic diversification, Salih said reliance on oil revenues remained “one of the basic problems” and called for investment in non-oil resources through national and international private sector partnerships. He also stressed the importance of the digital economy, calling for “a strong institutional entity supervising the digital cloud, cybersecurity and the attraction of modern technology.”

Earlier this year, Salih called for shifting toward a social economy to end Iraq’s rent-based model, and urged partnerships between the state and major international production companies in agriculture using modern technologies.