Following the recent visit by a delegation of  Iranian businessmen and officials to Basra, an Iranian company has started negotiations with the investment commission in Basra over the construction of an iron foundry. The plant is planned cost to cost $10m and will cover 25,000 square meters.

(Source: Aswat Al Iraq)

Aswat Al Iraq reports that the Iraqi minister of housing and reconstruction, Bayan Dizayee, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with her Jordanian counterpart on mutual cooperation in the fields of reconstruction and housing. “The memorandum encourages investors to invest in the fields of construction.”

Meanwhile, the National Investment Commission has received proposals to build one million housing units over the next three years.

Proposals have come from various sources, with even the Vatican offering to fund a major housing project in Basra, to be implemented by Swiss and UAE companies. Iranian companies have also just signed a deal to build 10,000 houses in Al-Amara, while a German firm has signed a contract for a similar number of houses in Diwaniya-Shafia.

(Source: Aswat Al Iraq, Iran Daily)

The Japanese loan implementation monitoring committee held a meeting with the representatives of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to lay down mechanisms and solutions for obstacles impeding projects, according to a statement by the Agricultural Initiative Department’s information office on Friday.

“The meeting was attended by a representative of the Japanese embassy in Baghdad and another of the UN Development Program (UNDP), The Iraqi officials attending the meeting praised the Japanese role in the efforts to sustain the efforts exerted by the Iraqi government to rebuild the war-ravaged country through soft loans.

(Aswat Al Iraq)

Iraqi Trade Ministry is in debt to merchants who supplied the Ministry with food items related to the ration card system.

“This issue would negatively affect the ration card system,” Falah Kamona, head of the Iraqi Chamber of Commerce, told Aswat al-Iraq news agency on Friday.

He said that the Ministry has been in debt to merchants for about eight months.

“Merchants are upset because of the delay in their payments,” Kamona said.

He said this kind of delay should not happen.

(Aswat Al Iraq)

Reuters reports that talks are still ongoing between Iraq and Royal Dutch Shell on a natural gas deal near the southern oil hub of Basra, although they are taking longer than expected, a senior Iraqi oil official said on Friday.

“The heads of agreement will be extended and the project will be presented to the next government,” the official told Reuters.

The Iraqi government has been working to finalize the joint venture between its South Gas Company, Shell and Mitsubishi. The deal would capture huge amounts of gas for domestic use or export, which is currently wasted by being flared at the oil fields.

(Source: Reuters)

A delegation comprised of students and academicians from the Swedish Lund University has visited the University of Duhuk to get acquainted with the geography of the area, an informed source said on Thursday.

“The visit of the delegation, which includes 13 students and academicians, will last eight days,” Dr. Nizar Numan told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

The delegates will visit geographic sites and mountains in Duhuk, in addition to Arbil’s Soran district, Numan pointed out.

(Aswat Al Iraq)

The Iraqi Water Resources Ministry has completed the Amara dam project in Missan province.

“The project is important because it controls and distributes the Tigris River water throughout the province,” the Ministry said in a release on Thursday received by Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

(Aswat Al Iraq)

Iraq’s Cereals Council said today that Iraq is expected to buy 3 million tons of wheat this year, the same quantity it exported last year.

Iraq will also import about a bit more that 1 million ton of rice this year, i.e. a small increase comparing with 2009 exports. Iraq is diversifying its wheat provider sources during the last two years as earlier after 2003 incidents; the majority of the imported wheat was from the USA.

(Al SumariaTV)