In his joint press conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on December 12, 2011, President Barak Obama noted that “In the coming years, it’s estimated that Iraq’s economy will grow even faster than China’s or India’s.”

Foreign and regional investors interested in Iraq’s economic potential, but uncertain about the country’s investment regulations, arbitration laws and tax structure, should consider consulting a series of recently published Investor Guides. Produced by the USAID-Tijara Provincial Economic Growth Program, Investor Guides are an example of US-Iraqi cooperation to support private sector development and economic growth in Iraq under the auspices of the Strategic Framework Agreement.

Three guides – to Anbar, Kirkuk and Baghdad – are available as practical tools that serve as roadmaps to local investment opportunities. Guides to Basrah, Najaf and Karbala will be published in early 2012.

Each guide contains a detailed accounting of the province’s demography, economy, geography and government structure. Potential investors will find a summary of the privileges and guarantees afforded by Iraq’s prevailing investment law. Specific regulations pertaining to industrial projects also are outlined, as are laws relating to free trade zones and dispute settlements.

“The Investor Guide lets potential investors know that in addition to producing over one million barrels of oil a day, Kirkuk also has modern hospitals, reliable electrical power and a major university producing graduates skilled in nursing, science, mathematics and foreign languages,” says Falah Abdul Rahman Mohammed, chairman of the Kirkuk Investment Commission. “This is the first document about Kirkuk that is useful for foreign investors because it includes instructions on how to obtain licenses and permits necessary to establish an investment project.”

Provincial investment commissions in Kirkuk and Baghdad plan to make their guides available to visiting businessmen with questions about tax rates and the banking system.

The USAID–Tijara Provincial Economic Growth Program published a national investment guide to Iraq in 2009, but realized that provinces also needed a document clarifying their investment procedures. Provincial investment commissions are ready to welcome investors interested in developing hotels, housing, retail shopping malls and recreation facilities.

Please click here to download Investor Guides to Anbar, Baghdad and Kirkuk in both English and Arabic.

What’s the future of business in Iraq? There are plenty of opinions on this, but the opinion of the former US Defense Department official who was tasked with promoting business in Iraq has to be worth more than most.

So what does Paul Brinkley have to say about it?

“There’s no opportunity like this in the world, given the political developments and the unleashing of human activity. It would be silly to walk away from it …

 “We see an honest opportunity where more risk-averse capital might not be willing to go. It’s a patient view that creates long-term wealth for ourselves and our business partners.”

And he’s backing his opinion with the creation of a new fund investing in Iraq. Need we say more?

Readers of Iraq Business News who want detailed reports on opportunities in the country can get the latest additions to our reports service at discounted prices if ordering before the end of November.

In our ongoing efforts to brings you all the best information on doing business in Iraq, we continue to add to the list of reports available from our reports service.

This week we’ve added two reports on energy exploration and electricity generation:

• Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Outlook in Iraq to 2015, an essential source for industry data and information relating to the exploration and production industry in Iraq. It provides asset level information related to active and planned oil and gas fields and exploration blocks in Iraq. The profiles of major companies operating in the upstream industry in Iraq are included in the report.
• Iraq Power Market Outlook to 2030: The report includes a detailed analysis of the current investment climate in the country’s power sector and over the next decade across 6 broad parameters. Each parameter has a weight assigned, and a weighted average score is calculated to obtain the final country ranking in that region. The study also maps the relative ranking of the key countries in the region according to the current investment opportunities in the country and that by 2020.

We’d welcome your recommendations for other reports that you’d like us to carry, and any other suggestions that you may have to improve Iraq Business News – please let us know in the comments section below.

The following report was published on 26th September 2011 by the International Crisis Group. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.

To download the full report, please click here.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS

After years of uncertainty, conflict and instability, the Iraqi state appears to be consolidating by reducing violence sufficiently to allow for a semblance of normalcy. Yet in the meantime, it has allowed corruption to become entrenched and spread throughout its institutions. This, in turn, has contributed to a severe decay in public services. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s government has exacerbated the problem by interfering in anti-corruption cases, manipulating investigations for political advantage and intimidating critics to prevent a replication of the type of popular movements that already have brought down three regimes in the region. The government’s credibility in the fight against corruption has eroded as a result, and this, together with troubling authoritarian tendencies, is giving ammunition to the prime minister’s critics. To bolster its faltering legitimacy, Maliki’s government will have to launch a vigorous anti-corruption campaign, improve service delivery and create checks and balances in the state system.

As violence spread following the 2003 U.S. invasion, the state suffered in equal measure to the general population. In an environment of escalating kidnappings, explosions and assassinations, public services were thoroughly devastated. In the wake of the dramatic February 2006 Samarra bombing, entire ministries were empty, as officials dared not travel to work. Longstanding projects were abandoned overnight. Judges and parliamentarians found they had become targets. Oversight agencies, which should have been less exposed to risk because of their lack of direct contact with the general population, were forced to roll back their operations, leaving state institutions without effective safeguards against corruption or abuse. As a result, state output declined dramatically for a number of years, even as the annual budget steadily increased due to elevated oil prices. The state’s paralysis contributed to the proliferation of criminal elements and vested interests throughout the bureaucracy.

In our ongoing efforts to brings you all the best information on doing business in Iraq, we continue to add to the list of reports available from our reports service.

This week we’ve added two reports to purchase, and one to download free of charge:

• ‘Perspective on Iraqi private banks’, researched and written by Ahmad Saleh and Tom Opdyke of Iraqixchange;
• A detailed analysis of the opportunities in Anbar Province by Dunia Frontier Consultants;
• The latest edition of Iraq Insights, published by our expert blogger Keyzom Ngodup of Ideas sYnergy.

We’d welcome your recommendations for other reports that you’d like us to carry, and any other suggestions that you may have to improve Iraq Business News – please let us know in the comments section below.

The first of two new reports posted today on the IBN website puts the Iraq private banking sector under the spotlight. ‘Perspective on Iraqi private banks’ is researched and written by Ahmad Saleh and Tom Opdyke of IraqiXchange. The eight page report provides vital background data plus key stats on the sector.

The second report is a detailed analysis of the opportunities in Anbar Province by Dunia Frontier Consultants. Anbar Province is about to become a major player in the O&G sector with 5 of the 12 new plots in Iraq’s 4^th round of O&G licensing. The development is certain to entail billions of dollars of investment.

These and other valuable reports can be found by clicking here.

At Iraq Business News, we realise how important it is for our readers to have access to the best possible information on Iraq and the industries that operate there.

So to keep you informed, in addition to our website and weekly newsletter, we have put together a selection of the best Iraq-related business reports, some of which are even free of charge!

You can find our full list by clicking here, and you will also notice a new reports box at the end of each article, showing you all the reports relevant to that story.

We believe our new Reports service will prove a valuable resource for your business.

Remember also that if you require more bespoke advice, Upper Quartile and AAIB are here to help you. For more information please contact Gavin Jones or Adrian Shaw.

The United Nations has prepared a comprehensive Briefing Book on Iraq, and presented it to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

The book is comprised of two parts:

The first part addresses key policy issues, including: macroeconomic challenges, development planning and prioritization, governance and public sector reform, anti-corruption, private sector development, social protection and the challenges of regional cooperation and internal disputed territories.

The second part focuses on the various sectors and cross-cutting issues, including: human rights protection, civil society and the media, gender mainstreaming, basic social services, water resources management, agriculture, environment, energy, transport and telecommunications and cultural heritage.

There are a total of 16 chapters for each of the policy issues with an outline of the challenges based on analysis of Iraq’s context and experience, a presentation of recent and ongoing policy actions followed by a series of recommendations for further initiatives.

Please click here to download the full report;

… here for the executive summary; and

… here for the 2-page synopsis.