Higher Coordination Committee Approves Vital Investment and Service Initiatives for Provinces

The Higher Committee for Provincial Coordination held its regular session on Thursday, chaired by Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi, and approved a series of important decisions including initiatives related to new investment cities and other service projects. Prime Minister Ali Faleh Al-Zaidi presided over the fifth regular session of 2026 for the Higher Committee for Provincial Coordination. During the meeting, general conditions in the provinces were discussed, with a particular focus on service and living aspects. The session also addressed a range of topics and files on the agenda, attended by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Finance, Education, Agriculture, Justice, and Industry, as well as the Director of the Prime Minister's Office, the Secretary-General of the Council of Ministers, and the Head of the Higher Committee for Provincial Coordination. The Prime Minister opened the session by discussing the new investment cities initiative, which involves establishing fifteen new administrative investment cities across all provinces. Al-Zaidi emphasized that each city's area would be no less than ten thousand dunams and would be located as close as possible to city centers. He indicated that the initiative would include providing loans from the Central Bank to provincial investment bodies to finance the implementation of necessary infrastructure for these cities, along with offering encouraging banking facilities to investors. He stressed that designs would be developed by a specialized consultancy firm, taking into account the unique identity and historical and spatial features of each province to be integrated into the city design. Al-Zaidi directed the formation of a committee in each province tasked with identifying the activities and requirements the province needs within the new investment city. In a related context, the Prime Minister affirmed that the one-million residential land plot project would include private sector employees who have pension deductions and social security and do not own housing. In this regard, the Director of the Prime Minister's Office and head of the project's steering committee reviewed the progress made and completion rates at the provincial level. He also touched upon the deployment status of staff assigned from the provinces to real estate registration directorates to complete procedures, stressing the importance of coordination between governors and the Ministry of Construction, Housing, Municipalities, and Public Works to discuss the external infrastructure for the project. The meeting discussed and approved the agenda items. Regarding the investment cities initiative, a vote was cast to form a committee chaired by the General Coordinator for Provincial Affairs, with membership including governors, a representative from the Prime Minister's Office, and the Coordination Body. This committee will be responsible for preparing land for the new investment cities initiative in all provinces, ensuring each plot is no less than (10) thousand dunams, located near water sources and city centers, and resolving all legal issues pertaining to these lands to make them ready for handover to the National Investment Commission for infrastructure development according to specified standards and designs. The meeting also approved the Ministry of Agriculture's preparation of a detailed report on compensation for terminated agricultural contracts in the provinces. Additionally, provinces, in cooperation with the Ministry of Construction, Housing, Municipalities, Public Works, and relevant ministries and bodies, are to discuss external infrastructure projects in the cities where the initiative will be implemented, such as wastewater treatment plants, water purification stations, and the provision of electrical power for the initiative. Concerning stalled and uninitiated investment licenses in Baghdad Governorate, the meeting approved the formation of a committee chaired by the Prime Minister's Legal Advisor, with members from relevant entities. This committee will study and address the legal, technical, and administrative obstacles facing specified stalled investment projects and propose necessary solutions for their completion within defined timelines. For stalled investment licenses in Nineveh Governorate, it was decided to form a committee to ascertain the reasons for the non-signing of contracts for several investment license projects. The meeting also voted to amend paragraph (3) of item two of the Authority's decision No. (31 of 2023), so that secondary roads described in paragraph (third) of Article (2) of statement No. (1 of 2022) become local roads subject to provincial administration in all matters related to them. Regarding support for youth forums in Baghdad Governorate, the meeting approved the governorate's rehabilitation and maintenance of these forums. In media affairs, recommendations for the media committee responsible for overseeing and monitoring the work of media departments in the provinces were approved.