As part of the preparations made by RCD to hold its Security and Economic Forum 2019 due in to be held in September 2019 in Baghdad, Mr. Farhad AlaalDin, member of the Board of Directors of RCD and Chairman of the preparatory committee of the Forum, has met with Mr. Mikhail Bodanov, the Envoy of Russian President Vladimir Putin for the Middle East and the Deputy Foreign Minister in Moscow. The participation of Mr. Bakdanov in the Forum and how to encourage Russian companies to contribute effectively in the reconstruction of the country were discussed in the meeting.

Mr. Bakdanov praised the convening of this important forum at this time of Iraq's remarkable development in several sectors such as energy and oil industries as well as the banking sector. He stressed the importance of the current situation in the entire region and Iraq's strategic role, pointing to the historical relations between Iraq and Russia.

It is worth mentioning that RCD has been working for months to hold a forum on security, economic and energy issues because of its strategic importance for Iraq and the Middle East and nearby region, amid major challenges facing the region and overlapping policies and the important geographical location of Iraq, which has played a greater role on all political and economic levels as well as the security one.