The Labor and Vocational Training Directorate/Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs has officially announced extending the period granted for foreign labor in Iraq that does not hold a proper work permit to adapt their legal status up to the 25th of May 2023.
For more information about the allowance granted by MOLSA and steps required; please visit below link:
An English translation of the extension announcement is below:
Pursuant to the Council of Ministers decision no. (23119) for the year (2023), the Labor and Vocational Training Department/Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs “MOLSA” has officially announced launching the application for adapting the legal status for foreign labor entered Iraq legally from the governmental ports as of Sunday (19 March 2023) that should continue for (45) days. The decision grants the foreign labor that does not have a valid work permit to adapt their legal status without referring the matter to the competent court that would oblige the defaulting labor to issue a proper work permit plus imposing fines of up to (3 times) the monthly salary pursuant to Article (36) of the Iraqi Labor Law no. (37) for the year (2015).
By which the foreign labor is now allowed to adapt their legal status by making an online application and paying the related official fees with MOLSA for initiating the related procedures in coordination with the Ministry of Interior/Civil Affairs, Passports and Residency Directorate. While the Labor and Vocational Training Department website has stated that the said department shall, through its inspection teams, start wide campaigns upon the expiration of the above grace period by visiting the work sites to check any defaulting foreign labor and that legal actions shall be carried out against them.
To see the news announced at the Labor and Vocational Training Department, please visit below link:
وزارة العمل والشؤون الأجتماعية (molsa.gov.iq)
The electronic application link below:
دائرة العمل والتدريب المهني (lvtd.gov.iq)
The attached file includes a brief for the decision and related requirements in bilingual:
Adapting foreign Labor legal status per Council of Ministers Decision_no. 23119_2023_bilingual
As a part of the government efforts aiming to facilitate the procedures adopted by its institutions serving public interest for the government, its institutions and people, the Prime Minister’s Office has issued its decision no. (4000/2302666) on the 24th of January 2023 stating to facilitate the procedures of importing and exporting goods and commodities by the companies, investment projects, factories, agricultural and livestock projects and others with IMMEDIATE effect. You may review the full decision in English language by clicking on below link:
The Iraqi Council of Ministers issued its resolution No. 271 for the year 2022 on the 11th of October 2022 to determine the Non-Governmental Organizations “NGO” Department in the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers, which is governed by the NGO’s Law in coordination with the Federal Board of Supreme Audit, as a supervising authority on the activities of NGOs for anti-money laundering and financing terrorism.
In this article, we will address the above-mentioned resolution from the legal and practical standpoints:
From a legal standpoint:
Whereas the legal permissibility stated under Paragraph 17 of Article One – of the Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Law No. 39 of 2015 was invoked, which identified the supervisory authorities, while the same article has stated the possibility of adding a supervisory authority by a decision of the Council of Ministers based on the suggestion of the Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Council, then to be published in the Official Gazette. As the Iraqi Council of Ministers, in its session held on the 4th of October 2022, issued a resolution determining NGOs Department mission in the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers as a supervisory body for the works of NGOs for anti-money laundering and terrorist financing in coordination with the Federal Board of Supreme Audit based on Article 20 of the Non-Governmental Organizations Law No. 12 of 2010, which allowed coordination between the aforementioned department and the Board of Supreme Audit in matters related to the audit and Pursuance of the work of such organizations.
From a practical standpoint:
These measures represent a continuation of the supervisory/audit precaution exercised by the Iraqi state and its supervisory bodies to combat money laundering, currency smuggling and damage to the national economy on one hand. On the other hand, the Iraqi state, by its above decision, maintained the stability of the work of these organizations through determining a department originally competent in the affairs of NGOs to monitor what falls under its competence to achieve the desired goal, given its knowledge on how things are managed in the field of organizational work and the means to maintain its stability and sustainability.
From our point of view as a legal firm, we consider it as an apropos and a consensus approach that would support reducing financial corruption, waste of currency and illicit financing.
Below is a copy of the subject resolution in English language.
Author: Esq.Jaafar Mohammed Abd
Per the second official invitation by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH “GIZ”; our firm has attended the Private Sector Development and Employment Promotion Project (PSD) monthly after-work event called “Tawasul” organized by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), co-financed by the European Union, and implemented by GIZ in Babylon Rotana Hotel/Iraq, attended by Dean of the College of Business Economics at Al-Nahrain University, Dr. Nagham, President of the Federation of Iraqi Industries, Mr. Adel Ekab Hussein and an official representative of the Ministry of Industry and Ms.Adeline Defer Head of Project, Private Sector & Employment Promotion Project at GIZ Iraq.
This event provides an opportunity for stakeholders from the private and public sector, as well as academia to informally exchange on topics related to issues on private sector development in Iraq.
This Tawasul event brings together relevant stakeholders from public and private sector to discuss in an interactive setting how the Iraqi industrial sector can be reinvigorated. Led by a panel of local and international experts on industrial policy, we can jointly explore the question of how Iraqi industrial factories can be supported to enable them to meet local demand, leverage their export potential and create employment opportunities, thereby supporting Iraq’s path towards a more diversified economy.
Each side of the attendees expressed their vision according to their specialization and the factors that contribute to the development of the private sector, where Dr. Nagham pointed to the importance of developing the academic aspects and its effective role in providing a workforce with expertise in the market, as well as the weakness in the vocational schools in the market in the present time, which led to attracting expats and expertise from outside Iraq to manage the simplest aspects of business.
In addition, the representative of the Ministry of Industry and Minerals referred to the ministry’s upcoming plans on supporting the private sector and industrial projects in particular, with regard to the ease of obtaining projects for import and investment licenses and shortening the time for projects to provide their needs of raw materials and support their products.
Also, Mr. Adel, head of the Iraqi Federation of Industries, has affirmed the need to develop and grow the role of private sector projects by applying some radical solutions from all sides, including import and logistical solutions, and providing further support from the competent authorities, and get up with solutions on how to encourage domestic production, while our firm through his team attending the event, has highlighted the significant role the private sector should carry out in the development and growth of the country economy and suggested means to activate this role.
Given the primary role of legal institutions in this matter, our firm, through our distinguished attorneys, was keen to attend such events to support the country in improving the national capacities to formulate private sector development policies and to advance the operational, regulatory and legislative environment that helps the development of small and medium-sized enterprises in Iraq.
Highlights of our firm participation in below pictures and video:
Per official invitation by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH “GIZ”; our firm has attended the Private Sector Development and Employment Promotion Project (PSD) workshop organized by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), co-financed by the European Union, and implemented by GIZ in Babylon Rotana Hotel, Iraq. Whereas (PSD) organizes a monthly after-work event called “Tawasul”; Such event provides an opportunity for interested private and public sectors for networking and exchanging standpoints aiming to develop specific sectors.
Throughout this workshop, the Participants were thrilled to discuss topics related to private sector development issues in Iraq. The role of exchanging ideas was the cornerstone to build trust between the participants, which is an essential part of establishing an open and constructive dialogue exchange with interested people from the private and public sectors, as well as academia.
PSD has decided to conduct an event was called “Geographical Indications (GI)” and mainly was held to discuss geographical indications in Iraq and Iraqi law, how to record such indicators and their effects, how to benefit from these indicators for agriculture and inherited craft professions and Freelancers, and finally how to protect the results of these indicators and the differences between the geographical indication and the trademark.
During the event, Dr.Maitham Adham (chief of engineers in the intellectual property division, Department of industrial development and organization in the Ministry of Industry and Minerals) amused us with a lecture about the importance of such geographical indicators concerning the development of industries in Iraq for both private and public sectors and the current challenges facing the uprise of the economic situation in Iraq and how to use GI to serve our favors.
Lastly, given the primary role of legal institutions in this matter, our firm, through our distinguished attorneys, was keen to attend such workshops to support the country in strengthening national capacities to formulate private sector development policies and to advance the operational, regulatory and legislative environment that helps the development of small and medium-sized enterprises which directly enhances employment in Iraq.
With an official invitation from the Station Foundation, we have attended MEET & GREET event organized by The Station and The Iraqi Private Banks League with highly sophisticated institutions and European embassies along with elite entrepreneurs and startup companies in Iraq from whish we mention The Kingdom of the Netherlands Embassy, the Australian Embassy, Tabadul Fintech Co., KAPITA, Ashur Bank, Decision Academy, Globitel, Travelport, SAFR, Raw Media Production and more. The event aims to discuss and resolve the latest challenges of the nowadays ecosystem and networking which is a complex network and interconnected system.
Through conducting roundtables discussions, involving professionals and experts from our firm, we were excited to attend such an event to examine vital issues now facing the industry as technology continues to reshape industries both within the organization and externally. Despite these challenges many organizations have overcome and mitigated these issues, the main imperative driving positive adoption is people, delivery team orientation to customer value, and rapid learning cultures.
From the legal perspective, our firm was keen to showcase all the legal challenges that might be faced by such organizations through the latest legal technologies that we are using nowadays and how the legal profession should adapt to current, and future, changes in technology.
It is worth mentioning that the Station Foundation for Entrepreneurship is one of Iraq’s leading co-working spaces in Baghdad and other provinces. First established in 2018, as an independent, non-governmental, and non-profit organization, it became the cornerstone for Iraqi youth with fresh and inventive ideas to set foot into the business world and entrepreneurial projects.
Highlights of the event are in the below pictures:
Given the framework of both, the country and our firm keenness to spread the legal culture to support the empowerment of women, especially in the incorporation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), since they are companies that maintain the level of their revenues, assets, or number of employees within certain limits, while each country has its own definition of a small or medium-sized company, as the state determines the size that it should be established and according to the industrial field to which they belong, insofar our company was keen to provide integrated legal knowledge to support such companies through resolving any ambiguities, bridging gaps and encouraging them to rise and flourish.
Accordingly and in response to the invitation of our partners (The Station institution) our firm, through its skilled attorneys, on behalf of the Companies Department, conducted a workshop on Iraqi corporate law at The Station as a part of the workshop held there coordinated with SheTrades initiative initiated by the International Trade Center. The workshop is intended to encourage women involved in fashion and décor design and marketing to legally set up their business.
With the presence of a wonderful group of Iraqi women entrepreneurs in this field our attorneys Mr.Othman Ayad & Mrs.Ola Swidan gave an overview of our firm services highlighting the importance of legal knowledge for all society levels, especially for women due to their dedicated role in work. Afterwards, our attorneys explained how to fulfil the requirements for incorporating companies of all kinds, determining their capital, sectoral approvals, and some other approvals according to each company activity and further explained the legal approach to register an online store and protect the intellectual rights of business owner including the registration and protection of Trademarks, then run questions and answers session with the attendees regarding the legal information shared by our team.
It is worth mentioning that The Station is considered the cornerstone for Iraqi youth with new and innovative ideas to enter the private sector and by having this dynamic partnership; Al Muhamoon Al Mutahidoon confirms its commitment to provide substantial support to SME’s and Iraqi entrepreneurs.
Officially sponsored by the Central Bank of Iraq and the Iraqi Ministry of Finance & and Iraq Private Banks League besides other reputable financial institutions, the 5th Annual Iraq Finance Expo (IFEX) is devoted to revealing the latest financial technologies and innovations in the Iraqi financial market. Now in its 5th year, IFEX is hosted at the Baghdad International Fairground from 2nd till 4th of July, 2022. The full range of Iraqi Financial service institutions is represented at the exhibition including Iraqi and International Banks, payment service providers, FinTech start-Ups, digital technologies, investment companies, capital markets, etc.
Our visit was on the 2nd day to focus and shine a spotlight on Iraq’s rapidly developing banking and financial services industry and our UpToDate exposure to such field in terms of its legal and compliance positions from the traditional banking methods to the new technologies which are leading the charge in global growth trends and how Iraq is poised to take advantage of such innovations.
Also, we have provided our insights and suggestions on the Iraqi financial laws to explore new opportunities and provide solutions to big financial challenges.
The IFEX was held with wide participation by the financial and banking institutions such as Trade Bank of Iraq “TBI”, S2M for digital payment, Al Taif Islamic Bank, Al Janoob Islamic Bank, International Development Bank, National Bank of Iraq, IRAQNA IBTS, TNFX, Arab Payment Services “APS”, BHTC for Training & Consulting and many more.
Below are some highlights of our visit.
In June 2022, the 7th Iraq Energy Exhibition & Conference IEE is focusing on the breakthroughs in the generation, distribution, storage and use of power to meet domestic needs and international requirements. The 7-year-old event brings together the world’s leading manufacturers, global experts, governments, procurement, project managers and contractors to drive cost-effectiveness and efficiency and move projects forward. Discover the thousands of power products and innovative technologies that are energizing the industry in the 7th Iraq Energy Exhibition & Conference “IEE”
Our Firm in Iraq proudly was one of the exhibitors in the IEE which was sponsored by the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity besides many reputable energy firms such as General Electric, Hitachi Energy, Alfanar along with other esteemed companies and organizations such as Schneider Electric, MASS Group, SCATEC, Al Hamra Insurance and KEPPT; the conference has been an outstanding chance to meet up vis-a-vis and have valuable discussions with clients, partners, and other stakeholders on how we can assist the Energy sector investments in Iraq in terms of all its legal aspects
During the inauguration, his Excellency Eng. Adel Kareem (Minister of Electricity) was keen to visit and get to know all the exhibitors’ representatives. His highness emphasized how significant is the investment in such sector and its positive impact on the Iraqi economy, especially when it is fully assisted by the collateral legal aspects and their contribution to raising awareness about the Energy, power and renewable energy fields
In addition, we were proud to witness the appointment of the actress Ms.Ala’a Hussein as the ambassador of the Iraqi renewable energy and it will be a great move in the industry
Lastly, we were honored, among other esteemed exhibitors and sponsors, to receive an appreciation shield for our contribution to the sector from his Excellency Eng. Nizar Qahtan Hassan Al-Tamimi, Deputy Minister of Electricity for Distribution and Transportation Affairs
For more information about the Conference and our participation, please press below link
Al Muhamoon Al Mutahidoon Firm, incorporated in Iraq offering more than 32 years of diversified experiences in the legal, consultancies and accounts management sectors. Providing its services Iraq wide and internationally through its affiliates of reputable firms.
Phone:
009647809030275
009647806109000
Email:
info@ulf-iraq.com
