Iraq launches plants' renovation tender 

(MENAFN) Iraq's Ministry of Industry and Minerals' director general of the investment department, Abdul-Ghani Fakhri, said that in order for the country to reconstruct its industrial sector, for the second time in 2011, the ministry recommenced a tender to repair 18 factories, reported Arab News.

Fakhri added that earlier this year, Iraq launched the tender but it didn't receive enough offers from foreign investors due to the country's security problems, which led to rearranging the tender's terms.

He also said that the government would open up its financial and industrial sectors and attract foreign investors to aid the country in its rebuilding process through offering discounts on electricity and fuel, banning the imports of made-in Iraq goods, in addition to paying half of the wages of the Iraqi employees working in the factories.

It is worth noting that the factories included in the tender are glass and ceramic plants in the Anbar province, and their renovation cost is estimated to reach USD70 million, a car tire factory in the southern Najaf province with a renovation cost of USD111 million, four medicine plants in the Nineveh and Salahuddin provinces for USD70 million, two paper factories in Basra and Missan provinces with a renovation cost of USD197 million.