- Undersecretary for Administrative and Financial Affairs “Achieving Iraq Vision 2030’s Nationwide Transformation Requires a Government with Real-Time Insights Across Every Ministry and Level of Government”
- EU-Iraq Bilateral Trade Ranks at 16.6 Billion Euros, Especially in Digital Innovations
- Global Technology Company SAP Launches Iraq Investment Plan and Baghdad Office,
- At SAP NOW Iraq Shows Best Practices in Digitizing Government, Oil and Gas, Banking, and Youth Training and Empowerment with Digital Skills for Today Initiative
BAGHDAD, Iraq – 3 July 2019: Nationwide digital transformation is driving Iraq Vision 2030’s diversified economic growth and job creation, and GDP growth to 8 percent in 2020, the undersecretary for Administrative and Financial Affairs at the Iraqi Ministry of Communications, the German Ambassador to Iraq, and global technology company SAP announced today at a major event on the future of Iraq’s digitization.
As the Iraqi government advances Vision 2030 and invests in reconstruction, Iraq’s real GDP growth is set to nearly triple to 8.1 percent in 2020, especially thanks to an increase in diversified economic growth, according to a recent report by the World Bank.
“Achieving Iraq Vision 2030’s nationwide transformation goals requires a government with real-time insights across every ministry and level of government,” said Dr. Karim Mezel Shebbi, Undersecretary for Administrative and Financial Affairs at the Iraqi Ministry of Communications “Public-private partnerships, such as with SAP, can provide digital government services that can make Iraq’s government more responsive and predictive to citizens’ needs, and foster new levels of diversified economic growth and youth job creation.”
Showing the strong trade opportunities, the European Union is Iraq’s second-biggest trade partner. Bilateral trade ranked at 16.6 billion Euros in 2017, according to a recent report by the European Commission.
“Germany-headquartered companies have long been strong trading partners, and with Iraq’s economy growing,” said His Excellency Cyril Nunn, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Iraq. “SAP’s new investment and office are a major landmark for Germany-headquartered companies to exchange knowledge and best practices to support Vision 2030 nationwide transformation and reconstruction.”
Supporting Iraq’s nationwide digital transformation, SAP announced a long-term Iraq investment plan and its first-ever in-country office in Baghdad. As part of these investments, SAP will exchange global best practices in supporting the digitization of the public and private sectors, especially government and public sector, oil and gas, and banking and finance, and fostering youth job creation and development.
Across the three key sectors of government and public sector, oil and gas, and banking and finance, SAP’s Future Cities program supports Smart Cities and smart governments, counts more than 3,300 oil and gas customers and more than 14,100 banking customers with 140 million bank accounts worldwide.
“Iraq’s government and public sector, oil and gas, and banking and finance sectors present strong opportunities to drive Iraq’s diversified economic growth,” said Hassan Saleh, Managing Director, SAP Iraq. “Our investment plan and new Baghdad office are major milestones for SAP in Iraq, especially in supporting key industry verticals and fostering job creation.”
During SAP NOW Iraq, SAP’s ecosystem of technology experts, customers, and channel and educational partners demonstrated how cloud-based technology can help organizations to become more efficient, more responsive and predictive, and ultimately more competitive.
Keynotes covered best practices in digital transformation roadmaps, industry-tailored sessions on government and public sector, oil and gas, and digital banking, and the SAP HANA in-memory platform, the SAP S/4HANA real-time business suite, and the Qualtrics customer experience platform.
“SAP NOW Iraq’s strong turnout is a landmark moment for SAP in the country, as we demonstrated how the intelligent use of data, technology, and digital tools can fuel Iraq’s next generation of Intelligent Enterprises,” added Saleh. “Iraq’s government can become more effective, oil and gas can become provide more sustainable energy; and digital banks can transform customer experiences.”
Supporting youth development, SAP’s Digital Skills for Today initiative has seen strong success in Iraq and the Middle East in empowering youth, refugees, and minority populations around conflict zones with technology job-relevant training and employment opportunities. In Iraq, SAP, INJAZ, and RiTS have trained more than 1,081 youth and more than 120 of the participants have completed intensive coding bootcamps.
In the coming months, SAP’s Training and Development Institute and Next-Gen initiative will explore opportunities to partner with Iraq’s educational institutions to foster the workforce of the future.
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