The Ministerial Council for the Economy announced today, Monday, the formation of an operations room to unify the instructions for granting entry visas from within Iraq. The Council stated in a statement that "Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chairman of the Ministerial Council for the Economy, Fuad Hussein, chaired today, Monday, the extraordinary session of the council, in the presence of the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Planning, Ministers of Finance, Agriculture, Trade, Labor, Social Affairs and Industry, the Secretary-General of the Council of Ministers, the Governor of the Central Bank, the Chairman of the Securities Commission, the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Oil, and the Prime Minister's Advisor for Legal Affairs." The Council hosted "the Minister of Interior, the Director-General of Civil Status, Passports and Residence, the Chairman of the Border Ports Authority, the Director-General of Standardization and Quality Control, the heads of the Consular and Economic Depar tments at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, representatives of the security services, the Chairman of the Federation of Iraqi Industries, and representatives of private Iraqi companies." The statement explained that "the session included discussing mechanisms to improve and facilitate the investment environment and provide all means that help attract businessmen and investors to work inside Iraq, including granting entry visas." The Minister of Interior indicated, according to the statement, that "the ministry has started using this service electronically and has applied it with some ministries and agencies, indicating that the Ministry of Interior seeks to convert all procedures for granting entry visas to Iraqi territory electronically by linking all ministries, agencies and departments concerned with granting these visas with the Ministry of Interior in order to simplify procedures and expedite the granting of visas." The Council decided to "form an operations room from all parties concerned with this is sue in order to unify the instructions for granting entry visas from inside Iraq through the beneficiary ministries and agencies after linking them electronically with the Residence Department and outside the country through Iraqi diplomatic missions." The Chairman of the Council stressed "the need to take into account the Labor and Social Security Law, as well as security checks, as Iraq has become an attractive country for foreign workers due to the improvement of the economic situation in Iraq, the growth of the business environment and the deterioration of economic conditions in some countries." The statement explained that "the council hosted the governors of Basra, Anbar, Maysan and Diyala, the head of the General Authority of Customs, the head of the Government Ports Authority and the Director General of Standardization and Quality Control, where the mechanisms for examining materials used in investment projects were discussed," stressing "the necessity of re-exporting all shipments that fail the tec hnical examination and do not conform to the required specifications in order to ensure the safety of citizens." According to the statement, the council discussed "the mechanisms of work of the Border Ports Authority, the General Authority of Customs and the trade exchange areas between Iraq and neighboring countries. The governors presented a briefing on the projects related to developing infrastructure, facilities and border port buildings in order to improve the level of services provided to arrivals and departures, as well as the smooth entry of goods and commercial materials into Iraq." The Council decided to "form a follow-up team from all economic and security sectors in order to establish coordination mechanisms between these parties to ensure the smooth flow of work at border crossings and control the entry of goods and people in accordance with the legal frameworks and instructions in force." Stressing the "necessity of completing all preparations to receive visitors on the occasion of the approac hing Arbaeen of Imam Hussein (peace be upon him) and mobilizing all efforts to provide the best services with high fluidity. Source: National Iraqi News Agency