The Prime Minister of Iraq, Haider al-Abadi, went to Japan to seek help for the reconstruction of his country.
After meeting with representatives of major Japanese companies on Wednesday 4 to discuss how to increase Japanese investment in Iraq, Prime Minister Haider presided over a meeting in Tokyo with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday 5 April. During the meeting, the two leaders discussed how to improve security in Iraq and promote the development of the economy.
“The goal of the conference was to help rebuild Iraq by trying to establish a system for eliminating civilian weapons. Instead of weapons, the population needs to work and return to everyday life, ”said one of the Japanese officials.
The Iraqi government announced in December 2017 the end of operations against militants. However, automatic weapons are still widespread among civilians and have often been used by Islamic extremists to spread death and terror in the country. "We have fought with great determination against terrorism. Now we want to make our country safer and more prosperous, "said Prime Minister Haider.
Unemployment, which is widespread especially in the young sections of the population, risks pushing this part of society towards violent extremist organizations. Japan has today offered its willingness to make its expertise in the field of work and professional training available to the Baghdad government.
"In order to improve public security, economic development is essential. For this reason I propose the creation of an international support to the Iraqi government's efforts through a new approach that integrates security and development ", said the Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe.