UN General Assembly
2013

and strengthen the Iraqi economy. Iraq is expected to achieve steady growth in the economic sectors through its 2013-2017 development plan. However, oil is still the main engine driving the other sectors, thanks to Iraq’s abundant oil and gas reserves, which surpass confirmed reserve estimates by a very large margin. Estimates put the potential of extractable oil reserves at 250 billion barrels and that of gas at more than 250 trillion cubic feet. We expect to double oil production by the end of the 2013-2017 development plan, with a steady increase in oil exports, which are expected to reach approximately 3,750,000 barrels per day in 2015. Therefore, the 2010- 2014 development plan focuses on environmental sustainability and the green economy in Iraq. Strategic goals have been identified for the aforementioned plan and for the 2013-2017 National Development Plan, which was recently approved by the Council of Ministers, as follows: First, a poverty alleviation strategy will be adopted as one of the components for the attainment of sustainable development. The poverty rate fell from