Australia has reaffirmed its commitment to assist Iraq with its development needs during meetings in Canberra between Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, and Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri Al-Maliki.
The commitments include a strong focus on agriculture. Australia and Iraq have developed a very effective agricultural partnership which is focussed on assisting Iraq to lift agricultural productivity, improve livelihoods and increase the resilience of Iraq's rural communities.
Australia is supporting initiatives that:
- tackle soil salinity in Baghdad and southern Iraq
- provide 120 Iraqi officials with postgraduate agriculture scholarships
- provide specialist short courses to train Iraqi officials in world's best practice agricultural techniques
- and demonstrate benefits of conservation cropping techniques at the village level.
Australia will have an AusAID presence in Baghdad to support the Government's A$165 million three-year development assistance commitment.
Please see:
Iraq Country Information
Media Release - Meeting with the Prime Minister of Iraq [External Site]
Transcript - Joint Press Conference with Iraq Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki