A high ranking Iraqi official yesterday assured the business community in Kuwait that Iraq is a safe place for investors and that many of the disputes between the two neighboring countries have been solved.

Amaar Al-Hakeem, the President of the Iraqi Higher Islamic Council was addressing a symposium hosted by the Kuwait Journalist Association (KJA) in Shuwaikh yesterday. This year’s visit coincides with the anniversary of the Iraqi invasion, which he described as "a very sad memory."

Al-Hakeem provided a glowing assessment of the relationship between Kuwait and Iraq. "We should concentrate on the development of the economic ties between the two countries and on investments. In the past few years we have been focusing on the political and security issues," he said.

According to him, the security in Iraq has an impact on the whole region. ''If Iraq is more secure then this will have a positive impact on Kuwait and the region as a whole," he said. He further added that the visits of both Kuwaiti and Iraqi officials have had positive impacts for the two nations.

Al-Hakeem stressed that Iraq is marking serious improvements security-wise. “Compared to two years ago the situation today is much better. After 150,000 American soldiers withdrew from Iraq, our government has been working alone to insure security.

As a result, the number of terrorist attacks has decreased,” he said. To attest his words, he said that all delegations that visited Iraq “noticed the improvement”. Al-Hakeem also noted that the Iraqi government is eager to solve all significant pending issues between the two countries.

He stressed that Iraq and Kuwait have settled some important issues. To illustrate his point, he mentioned the border dispute, the compensation of Kuwait Airways Corporation by the Iraqi Airways, the Kuwaiti properties in Iraq and other issues. “We also have good results in the negotiation on the Mubarak Port, especially the fourth phase of the project,” stressed Al-Hakeem.

Regarding the Syrian refugees, Al-Hakeem said “In the beginning there were fears of letting the Syrians into Iraq – a status quo that has changed now. Iraq’s borders have been opened for Syrians, he said – elaborating that there are refugee camps built on the Iraqi-Syrian borders in cooperation with the Iraqi Red Crescent which accommodates refugees.

“Some Syrians have relatives in Iraq and we let them stay with them. We didn’t forget their help for the Iraqi people in the past 30 years,” he said.

Finally he ensured the Kuwaiti business community that Iraq is safe for investments. “The new Foreign Investment Law provides good security for foreign investors in Iraq,” he said. He explained that some Kuwaiti property owners in Iraq won cases disputing properties in Basra other areas.