Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Italian Republic

07/22/2022 | News release | Distributed by Public on 07/22/2022 06:54

Ambassador Greganti completes mission in Basra

Italy's Ambassador to Iraq, Maurizio Greganti, has recently completed a three-day mission at the port of Basra, the country's economic capital.

During the mission, Ambassador Greganti had several meetings with the local authorities, with the heads of the local businesses and with the representatives of Italian enterprises operating in the region. Basra is one of Iraq's richest regions in terms of hydrocarbon fields - a sector the Iraqi economy greatly relies on - but also one of the most vulnerable regions, owing to droughts, water shortages and intruding salt wedge from the mouth of the Shatt al-Arab river. The opportunities the Iraqi market offers to Italian enterprises in the energy sector were the focal point of the meeting with Basrah Oil Company Director General, Khalid Hamza Abbas, who is at the helm of Iraq's major state-owned company.

The Ambassador showed the Director General the work carried out by ENI at the site in Zubayr, as well as the work conducted by other companies, such as Saipem, Sicim, Peg, Paresa, Technital, which also operate in Al-Faw, where the harbour - currently under construction - hopefully will become "Iraq's strategic outlet to the sea for exporting its national products".

Finally, the Italian Ambassador visited, at ENI's camp in Zubair, a petroleum extraction plant and an electricity generation plant, which powers the national grid too, serving the cities of Basra and Zubayr.