ABSTRACT

Question. What are the future prospects which you expect for Iraq in the field of agricultural and industrial development?

Answer. Of course, the general outline is recognised in all countries, i.e. that the purpose of investment in development is the improvement of the social, cultural and economic conditions of the people and their steady progress to keep pace with the universal progress of mankind. As far as the development of Iraq is concerned, there are additional objectives which are urgently required. The government in our country is working for the establishment of socialism and is embarking on vital fields of socialist application. One of the important features of socialist construction is to provide every citizen with the opportunity of employment with a reasonable and defined income in accordance with the socialist concept and policy of answering the needs of the people on the basis of the conditions and character at each stage. Now to provide every able citizen with the opportunity of work, our movement must maintain a continuous horizontal expansion in the form of building new projects which can provide employment opportunities in keeping with the growth of population. To us, construction and development are not only part of the general effort to ensure the progress of the country as a whole, but also a means of meeting an urgent need as well as a particular form of socialist application. The other thing we have in mind is our conviction that the conflict between the Arab nation and the Zionist entity will continue for a long time, notwithstanding the different opinion of a number of our Arab brothers. As this is the age of science and technology, as it is called, the growth of the nation's scientific and technological potential requires that attention be paid to development as a practical field for

evolving and improving any scientific and technological ideas related to our national and Pan-Arab characteristics. Development also provides the economic basis to face the military, economic and political eventualities associated with this conviction: our belief in a continued conflict between the Arab nation and the Zionist enemy backed by the imperialists, who are feeding and strengthening this conflict.