BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Iraq on Monday signed two deals worth US$5 billion (euro3.23 billion) to buy 40 Boeing aircraft and 10 planes from Canada's Bombardier to upgrade Iraqi Airways' aging fleet.
The deals were signed by Finance Minister Bayan Jabr in a ceremony attended by Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki as well as U.S., British and Canadian diplomats.
The first Boeing plane will be delivered in 2013, Jabr said. The Canadian company will start delivering the planes later this year, the finance minister said.
Al-Maliki said the government was working to improve the country and called for investments in Iraq.
''Today, the process of developing economy has started,'' al-Maliki said in a speech during the ceremony.
The prime minister invited foreign companies to invest in Iraq to help the government to rebuild the battered country.
