SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Japan will extend up to $300 million in low-interest loans to Iraq to help the country’s plan develop one of its oil refineries, said Japanese foreign minister Toshimitsu Motegi on Saturday.
In an unannounced visit to Iraq, Motegi met with his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein, Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi and President Barham Salih in Baghdad.
He told his Iraqi counterpart that peace and prosperity in Iraq “are necessary for stability in the region”, the Iraqi foreign ministry said in a statement.
The Japanese diplomat expressed his country’s readiness to enhance cooperation in all fields, the ministry added, including providing $50 million to support Iraq in combating the coronavirus.
He also said Japan would provide 32.7 billion yens ($300 million) as loans to Iraq for the Basra refinery improvement plan, the Japanese foreign ministry said in a separate statement.
The two officials also discussed regional issues including the crisis in Afghanistan, as well as ways to expand business between Japan and Iraq, the statement read.
