UK, Iraq sign agreement on partnership, cooperation with trade package worth up to $15B

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his Iraqi counterpart Muhammad Shia' al-Sudani have signed a landmark Partnership & Cooperation Agreement (PCA), and agreed a trade package worth up to £12.3 billion (some $15 billion).

Starmer and al-Sudani reaffirmed their commitment to the vision of a prosperous, sovereign Iraq through a new partnership focused on trade and investment, according to a joint statement following their meeting in London on Tuesday as the Iraqi premier paying an official visit to the UK on Jan. 14-16 January.

The leaders also reiterated their firm stance to deepening educational and cultural ties, as well as tackling security, migration and climate change challenges.

The statement noted that Starmer and al-Sudani signed a landmark Partnership & Cooperation Agreement (PCA), a wide-ranging treaty on trade and strategic cooperation and agreed a trade package worth up to £12.3 billion.

The deal underpinned by a series of export agreements, to bolster the growing trading relationship between the UK and Iraq.

The £12.3 billion-worth trade and export package includes to utilize UK private sector expertise on critical water, energy, telecoms and defense infrastructure, and to secure future investment projects in the clean energy, pharmaceutical, logistics, and financial services sectors.

Basra Water Project, Iraq-Saudi Grid interconnection, enhancement of the Iraqi National Grid, 5G rollout and Iraqi Railway project are among projects agreed iin the package.

The joint statement noted that the premiers signed the Joint Statement on the Strategic Bilateral Defence Relationship that establishes the basis for a new era in security cooperation and paves the way for a new agreement to reflect the ambition of both countries.

"This deepens our defence cooperation for the future, including through the provision of UK-Iraq military education exchange, UK advisory support on capability and institutional reform, and the development of defence industrial partnerships," it added.

On migration and organized immigration crime, Starmer and al-Sudani committed to enhance vital migration cooperation and agreed the principles of a specific returns agreement that delivers on a joint commitment to ensure those who have no right to be in the UK can be returned swiftly.