When to approach the Baghdad Investment Commission, and when the National Investment Commission?
The Law Office of Ali Barakat in Baghdad sets out which investment commission is to be approached for an investment licence, under Investment Law No. 13 of 2006 as amended, the original of which was published in the Official Gazette, issue 4031 of 17/1/2007, together with First Amendment Law No. 2 of 2010 and Second Amendment Law No. 50 of 2015. The page distinguishes the paths as they appear in the text.
Three commissions, not one
Article 1 of the Law uses the word “Commission” to mean the National Investment Commission, or the Region’s commission, or the governorate commission, as the case may be. The head of the Commission is the head of whichever of those bodies is concerned. The Region’s commission is the investment commission in the Region, responsible for investment planning and for granting investment licences in the Region. The governorate commission is the investment commission in a governorate not organised in a region, responsible for investment planning and for granting investment licences in the governorate.
Article 4, first, forms the National Investment Commission, makes it responsible for drawing up the national investment policy, setting its controls and monitoring their application, and assigns it strategic investment projects and projects of a federal character. It is linked to the Prime Minister, under paragraph third (h). Its structure includes the one-stop window and investor-services department, and a section for coordination with the governorates, under paragraph fourth.
Article 5, first, forms, in the regions and in the governorates not organised in a region, investment commissions with legal personality, funded from the budget of the Region or the governorate, with power to grant investment licences, to plan investment and to encourage it, and with power to open branches in the areas under their authority in coordination with the National Investment Commission, to ensure proper application of the law. The governorate commission is linked to the governor and is subject to the oversight of the governorate council, in a manner not inconsistent with this law, under paragraph sixth. The commissions of the regions and the governorates coordinate their work with the National Investment Commission, and draw up their plans so as not to conflict with federal investment policy, under paragraphs fourth and fifth.
In Baghdad, a governorate not organised in a region, the governorate investment commission — often referred to as the Baghdad Investment Commission — is approached for licensing and planning within the governorate, under article 5. A strategic project, or a project of a federal character, is taken to the National Investment Commission, under article 4. What is strategic or federal is read from the text where it has defined that. The controls laid down by the National Investment Commission, and the characterisation of the project when the application is filed, are consulted.
Council of Ministers approval, and the Region’s commission
Article 7(b) requires the Commission to obtain the approval of the Council of Ministers before granting the licence if the value of the investment project is more than two hundred and fifty million dollars. That is a statutory threshold for approval. The Commission must decide applications for an investment licence within a period not exceeding forty-five days from the date the application is filed, under paragraph (c). The Commission accepts licence applications for projects whose capital is not less than the minimum fixed by the Council of Ministers, or by the Council of Ministers of the Region as the case may be, in a regulation issued on the proposal of the Commission, under paragraph (a). That minimum is read from that regulation in its source.
If the project lies in the Kurdistan Region, the path starts with the Region’s commission, under articles 1 and 5, as set out on the page Kurdistan Board of Investment. Approaching a commission in another governorate, or the National Investment Commission, does not replace a reading of the Region commission’s competence when the project is in the Region.
How the licence is applied for, what the application must contain, and the periods for sectoral consultation and objection, are set out on the page How is an investment licence applied for, and who grants it?. Choosing the commission is a first step. The application procedure is a later one.
Legal basis and sources
- Investment Law No. 13 of 2006 (Official Gazette No. 4031 of 17/1/2007)
- First Amendment Law No. 2 of 2010 (Official Gazette No. 4143 of 8/2/2010)
- Second Amendment Law No. 50 of 2015 (Official Gazette No. 4393 of 4/1/2016)
Frequently asked questions
Is every project in Baghdad filed with the National Investment Commission?
No. The National Investment Commission is assigned strategic projects and projects of a federal character, under article 4. The governorate commission grants investment licences in a governorate not organised in a region, under article 5.
When must the Council of Ministers’ approval be obtained before the licence is granted?
If the value of the project is more than two hundred and fifty million dollars, under article 7(b).
Is the Region’s commission the same as a governorate commission?
Both grant licences within their scope, under article 5, but the Region’s commission is linked to the Prime Minister of the Region, and the governorate commission is linked to the governor, under paragraph sixth.
Related topics and articles
- 01How is an investment licence applied for, and who grants it?Applying for an investment licence under Law 13/2006 as amended: application, one-stop window, 45-day decision, sectoral reply in 15 days, grievance.
- 02The Kurdistan Board of Investment and an investment licence in the RegionInvestment Law 13/2006 on the Region’s commission and a Kurdistan licence, with no regional law number cited without a published official instrument.
- 03Industrial investment land in Basrah under the Investment LawHow Law 13/2006 as amended treats title or musataha of industrial land for a project in Basrah, without listing unconfirmed plots.
- 04Free Zones Authority Law No. 3 of 1998What Free Zones Authority Law No. 3 of 1998 provides: link to the Minister of Finance, the board, and deciding investment applications inside a free zone.
- 05The legal framework for setting up a factory or industrial project in IraqTwo routes to a private or mixed industrial project in Iraq: a formation licence from the General Directorate of Industrial Development under Industrial Investment Law No. 20 of 1998, or an investment licence under Investment Law No. 13 of 2006. Who may use each, what each offers, and what the project owner must do.