On Tuesday, Finance Minister Taif Sami signed a financing agreement with the Austrian Ambassador to Iraq, Andrea Nassi, to equip irrigation systems for the Ministry of Agriculture.

During the signing of the loan agreement for the project to provide center pivot irrigation systems for the Ministry of Agriculture, Finance Minister Taif Sami stated: "We have completed the procedures for signing the contract, which will serve the Ministry of Agriculture by equipping it with center pivot irrigation systems."

She added that "the agreement between the Republic of Iraq and the Republic of Austria includes a loan outlined in the 2023 budget, with a total value of €278,669,800."

For his part, Austrian Ambassador Andrea Nassi noted that: "The signing of the loan agreement for the provision of center pivot irrigation systems with the Austrian company POR, on behalf of the Austrian government, reflects the mutual cooperation between our friends, with the support of Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani." He affirmed that "Austria is committed to cooperating with Iraq and looks forward to further partnership."

Meanwhile, Delshir Aziz Al-Din Rasoul, Director of POR in Iraq, mentioned that "the loan amounts to approximately $300 million," expressing his "thanks to Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani for his direct contribution to finalizing the loan." He also praised the efforts of the Minister of Agriculture in supporting the loan and facilitating procedures and thanked the Finance Minister for expediting the process.

He added that "the contract includes the provision of 5,000 irrigation units to be distributed across all provinces of Iraq within 18 months, according to the schedule provided by the Ministry of Agriculture," explaining that "there are two types of units: one type covers 60 dunams, and the other covers 80 dunams."