Kuwait announces $2 billion in loans and investment to Iraq

Emir of Kuwait Sabah Al Ahmed urged the international community to rebuild war-torn Iraq

Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah presides over the Kuwait International Conference for the Reconstruction of Iraq at Bayan Palace in Kuwait on 14 February 2018. Jon Gambrell / AP

Sheikh Sabah, the Emir of Kuwait, announced on Wednesday $1-billion in loans for reconstruction projects in Iraq and another $1-billion of investments to help rebuild areas destroyed during the three-year war against ISIL.

"Iraq is required today to start a comprehensive reconstruction of the infrastructure and facilities that were destroyed. It cannot be undertaken alone, which calls us to the international community to take part of this mission,” he said on the last day of an international aid conference for Iraq in Kuwait City.

The Emir said that the private sector must also get involved.

"It was necessary for us to think of the vital role of the private sector as we believe such a role is capable of providing and contributing and able to handle the investment opportunity," he said.

Iraqi prime minister Haidar Al Abadi stressed that the entire Middle East had a stake in his country's revival.

“It was a bloody and tough war, our homes were destroyed, schools devastated, streets turned into battlefields, we tolerated this because not only were we fighting for Iraq but for all humanity,” Mr Al Abadi said.

Iraq wants to raise the estimated $88 billion needed to rebuild ravaged areas, with the government claiming that investments will be returned with profits.