Jordan-based think tank reports hundreds of Iraqi factories idle under Industry Ministry

AMMAN, Jordan — AMMAN — A Jordan-based research center has published a wide-ranging reform report on Iraq's Ministry of Industry, finding that hundreds of factories under the ministry's oversight remain inactive and that partnership contracts have failed to deliver measurable results. The report, issued by the Rubayt Center for Research and Strategic Studies, said the ministry oversees 31 state companies and 312 factories, of which 225 are operating and 87 have halted production. It identified 144 active partnership contracts and roughly 90 more under review, bringing the total to 234, and stressed that outcomes should be measured by concrete production, investment, employment and export results rather than contract volume. The report listed idle capacity, hidden unemployment, bureaucratic obstacles, corruption cases, weak oversight transparency and a disconnect between universities and industry among the main challenges. It recommended classifying factories, creating a transparency platform for contracts, moving to a single-window investment application system, linking senior management salaries to performance benchmarks, and establishing a National Industrial Development Council. It also called for protective measures to be temporary and tied to performance, and for industrial policy to shift from serving only the domestic market toward an export-oriented structure. No immediate response from Iraq's Industry Ministry was reported.