The Iraqi government has launched a national project to create job opportunities for young people in Anbar province, the local government announced Wednesday (April 29th).

Anbar's government and the Iraqi Ministry of Planning launched the National Youth Employment Project, the first of its kind in the province, which aims to provide 2,000 job opportunities this year, said Anbar Investment Commission head Mahdi al-Noman.

The project -- a partnership between federal and local authorities and the private sector -- involves the establishment of a development zone in Anbar on an area of 10,000 acres.

The development zone will encompass small to medium-sized projects in the agricultural, industrial and commercial fields.

The project will complement the objectives of the agricultural self-sufficiency plan that was launched two weeks ago by the Anbar government, al-Noman said.

"We are now expecting the government banking sector to start financing projects and to put in place mechanisms to facilitate lending," he said.

"We have recently held a meeting with the Central Bank of Iraq to discuss facilitating lending in a way that will safeguard the rights of the state on the one hand and help support young people on the other," he added.

Tackling unemployment

Anbar has been proactive in tackling the problem of unemployment through investment plans, and "there are currently about 68 active investment projects in many service and economic sectors throughout the province", said al-Noman.

"These investment projects have provided about 5,000 job opportunities for youth since 2017 in different fields," he said.

With the new national employment project, local authorities hope to curb unemployment which currently stands at about 18%, he added.

They also seek to achieve economic growth and to invigorate reconstruction in the province, which has been exhausted by the war on terror, he said.