National Development Plan (NDP) 2018 - 2022.

This National Development Plan (NDP) for the period 2018 - 2022 is a nationwide multisectoral document broadly aiming at reducing the consequences of the crises that have disrupted economic and social stability and environmental sustainability in Iraq. It is guided by the goals of Vision 2030 to drive the course toward a developed economy and a healthy and cohesive society that embraces all while providing new opportunities for growth which seeks reconciliation, stabilization, and prosperity, which is based on civilizational heritage and balanced values. The NDP is guided by four main pillars to overcome the current development challenges, namely (1) laying the foundations for good governance; (2) developing the private sector; (3) post-crisis reconstruction and development of affected provinces; and (4) reducing multidimensional poverty in the provinces. The main strategic objectives of the Plan are as follows (i) achieve economic reform in all its financial, monetary, banking, and commercial dimensions; (ii) accomplish recovery of the communities affected by displacement and insecurity; (iii) provide the conditions for an enabling environment for all forms of investment and strengthen the role of the private sector; (iv) increase the rate of economic growth; (v) increase the real per capita income; (vi) reduce unemployment and underemployment rates; (vii) make possible security for the poorest and most vulnerable groups; (viii) boost sustainable human development indicators; (ix) lay the foundation for decentralization to strengthen spatial development; and (x) align the general development framework with urban structures based on the foundations of urban planning and spatial comparative advantages.
As the target growth rate for the period 2018-2022 was set at about 7% (7.5% for the oil sector and 6.1% for all other non-oil activities such as commodity, distribution, and services, the document highlights the need to shift to other growth policies based on economic diversification, including (i) reliance to economic activities other than oil; (ii) private sector market-oriented investments; (iii) gradual opening up to foreign markets; (iv) restoration of the natural growth components of production sectors; (v) harmonization of fiscal and monetary policies to ensure optimal domestic use of capital accumulation and limit its outflows.
Enhanced production can be achieved by (i) providing poor farmers with training on agriculture and irrigation methods responsive to climate change; (ii) increasing agricultural land and promoting production and productivity by focusing on the following (a) expand cultivation of on-farm crops, used directly in human food, and industrial crops, used as raw materials in many industries and (b) manufacture machinery and agricultural equipment to meet the growing domestic demand; (iii) securing strategic storage of basic crops; (iv) enhancing the private sector contribution to the management, maintenance, and operation of silos.
To achieve sustainable food security it is necessary (i) a strategy that aims at sustainable agricultural development through the optimum use of natural, human, and financial resources to increase productivity, achieve better food security at the household level, and reduce poverty and unemployment; (ii) to support agricultural producers, protect local products through imposing duties on imported agricultural products, and deposit a share of duties in a dedicated fund to support agricultural producers; (iii) to establish modern and integrated agro-industrial clusters; (iv) to develop the infrastructure of agricultural sector; (v) to establish agricultural insurance companies and specialized associations to support various agricultural activities such as mechanization and marketing.
The environmental protection shall provide for the following (i) sustainable management of water and sanitation services, including securing the annual demand for sustainable water uses in agricultural, industrial, and municipal fields and reducing annual demand by 500 million m3, investing in renewable groundwater, reconstructing water resources infrastructure damaged by the military operations, minimizing water loss, discharging treated water into rivers according to standard specifications, reaching an agreement with upstream and riparian states to ensure fair distribution and sustainable water rights, and recovering and developing marshes; (ii) air pollution reduction; (iii) protection, restoration, and increasing of the sustainable use of ecological systems; (iv) addressing climate change and its effects; (v) addressing environmental problems resulting from existing oil and gas facilities, and reduce CO2 emissions; (vi) improving the electricity system efficiency by reducing internal consumption and losses in electricity systems in the distribution sector and improving quality of consumer services (household, government, industrial, agricultural, and commercial).
For more inclusive economic and social growth, it is envisaged (i) to improve the agriculture sector by (a) encouraging graduates of agricultural and veterinary institutes to establish agricultural projects to create new jobs, (b) establishing local or cooperative associations to provide small farmers with services such as marketing, financing, water, maintenance, mechanisation, storage, cooling and transport, (c) establishing projects with integrated activities to provide jobs for poor rural women as well as empowering women educationally, economically, in the health sector, and in the areas affected by terrorist acts and expanding their participation in the private sector, (d) including poor people by the lending programme to create small income-generating businesses; (ii) to enhance the health situation; (iii) to improve education of the poor; (iv) to provide adequate social protection for the poor; (v) to provide drinking water according to international standards; (vi) to reduce development disparities among provinces; (vii) to develop rural structures and create an enabling environment for youth; (viii) to improve the quality of national products and ensure their access to local markets.
As for Governance, it is required (i) to strengthen the rule of law and reduce human rights violations; (ii) to develop the capacity of human rights institutions; (iii) to improve administrative decentralization; (iv) to reduce financial and administrative corruption; (v) to ensure effective public participation in decision-making; and (vi) to adopt e-governance to replace the current model.