UN Job creation schemes in Iraq economic plan

We posted earlier on a $1bn job creation plan in Iraq, as a parallel to the military surge announced in January.

The UN-brokered economic compact, signed this week, announces many of the same ambitions for Iraqis, aiming to create a liberal free market in Iraq.

'But, while the language echoes Washington’s dreams for transforming Iraq before the March 2003 invasion, officials on the ground admit that, in the short term, reviving state-owned industries to create jobs will take priority.

“At this stage in Iraq’s situation, I would argue very strongly that profitability is not the key aspect in assessing your state-owned enterprises,” a senior US official in Baghdad involved in economic policy said this week.'