Visiting Iraqi Deputy Planning Minister Faik Abdul Rasool said on Wednesday foreign investors in Iraq would be exempted from all taxes and customs for 10 or 15 years on the condition that they have Iraqi shareholders.

Rasool made the remarks at the Turkish-Iraqi Business Council meeting in Istanbul, Turkey's largest city, noting that the privilege would be applicable to foreign investors in all sectors except those of oil, banking and insurance, Turkey's semi-official Anatolia news agency reported.

Iraq is open to foreign investors, especially in such fields of infrastructure, Rasool said, noting that the country needs 18 billion U.S. dollars for infrastructure for the next 5 years as 1. 5 million houses are to be built in the war-torn country.

A National Investment Commission, which is directly connected with the Prime Ministry was newly established to facilitate a rapid and effective decision-making process so that all procedures can be completed within 4-5 days, Rasool said.

Trade relation between Turkey and Iraq still has great room for improvement, as bilateral trade volume dropped from 7 billion dollars in 2004 to 2.8 billion in 2006, the report quoted Turkish- Iraqi Business Council Deputy Chairman Mehmet Habbab as saying.