Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Faleh Al-Zaidi returned to Baghdad at dawn on Wednesday, September 16, 2026, wrapping up an official European tour to France and Germany aimed at expanding bilateral partnerships in energy, defense, digital transformation, and capital investment.
According to an official statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Media Office and carried by the Iraqi News Agency (INA), the tour yielded a series of high-level diplomatic meetings, bilateral summits, and strategic agreements across Paris and Berlin.
In Berlin, Al-Zaidi engaged in head-of-state talks with German Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and held bilateral negotiations with Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
Following an expanded bilateral delegation session and a joint press conference with Chancellor Merz, the Prime Minister addressed the Iraqi-German Business Dialogue Forum to pitch direct foreign investment into Iraq’s manufacturing and infrastructure sectors.
On the commercial front, Al-Zaidi met with executive leadership from Siemens Energy, overseeing the signing of the fourth-phase Energy Cooperation Principles Agreement to modernize and expand Iraq’s electrical generation and grid infrastructure.
The Berlin stop followed an active diplomatic and commercial program in Paris, where Al-Zaidi met with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée Palace and engaged with prominent French business leaders, including the head of TotalEnergies, the chairman of Rothschild & Co, representatives from major industrial firms, and the President of the Arab World Institute. The French leg concluded with the execution of six major memoranda of understanding and strategic declarations: