Archive | 2013

Education for All – Cultural Empowerment, Political Imperative

Picture: Dr Mahmoud Osman, Member of the Council of Representatives Iraq, speaking at yesterday's conference.   By Madeleine White, educationalist, writer and Head of Strategic Partnerships, Whizz Education.   I was going to write about Educational Technology, as Bett (the world’s leading educational technology event) is happening in London at the end of the month. I also […]

EU-Iraq Agreement: New Opportunities to Boost Democracy

Iraq can enjoy new economic opportunities and receive a boost to its efforts to promote democracy and human rights in the country thanks to its first-ever framework agreement with the EU. That is the view of Italian Christian Democrat MEP Mario Mauro (pictured), who is responsible for steering the agreement through Parliament. He is recommending […]

DPM Discusses Investment with Australian Ambassador

By John Lee. The Deputy Prime Minister, Salih al-Mutleg [Saleh Al-Mutlaq], hosted the Australian Ambassador to Iraq, Lyndall Sachs (pictured), at his office in Baghdad. AIN reports that the two sides discussed encouraging Australian investment companies to work in industrial, agricultural and humanitarian development fields. The Ambassador said her country was ready to offer all support […]

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Iraq’s Political Rights Rating Falls

By John Lee. Iraq’s political rights rating declined over the past year, according to a new report from Freedom House. The fall was due to the concentration of power by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and increasing pressure on the political opposition, as exemplified by the arrest and death sentence in absentia of Vice President Tariq […]

13,000 and Counting

By John Lee. A partner at a London-based financial advisory business has suggested Iraq as a true frontier market investment, saying: “The greatest opportunities for emerging market investors have always come when political chaos coincides with a dire media consensus, and a major underlying economic improvement is thereby ignored. Iraq stands firmly in this tradition […]

Samsung Wins $879m Badra Deal

By John Lee. Iraq and the Russian state oil producer Gazprom Neft have awarded an $879 million contract to South Korea's Samsung Group to develop the Badra oil field in eastern Iraq. Samsung will design and build phase two of a central processing facility (CPF) for oil production in the field, which is expected to […]

Dubai Private Sector Trade with Iraq Soars

By John Lee. Dubai’s overall exports and re-exports from the private sector to Iraq rose by more 350 percent to value $11.4bn in 2012, according to data from the Dubai Chamber. Trade with Libya was up by 300 percent, while trade with Turkey doubled. The Chamber’s director general, Hamad Buamim, said Dubai accounts for 75 […]

Cabinet Issued 472 Decisions in 2012

By John Lee. Iraq's Department of Cabinet Affairs has announced that the Council of Ministers issued 472 decisions during 2012, 366 of them being what they described as "executive decisions". These decisions included 36 regarding laws and international conventions, five resolutions for ministries and departments "not associated with the ministries", and six resolutions concerning development […]

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Weekly Security Update

By Gary Sandiford, Olive Group’s Dubai based assessments manager.  Olive Group is a leading provider of security and technology solutions and has operated continuously in Iraq since 2003.   Overview Olive Groups Iraq statistics are drawn from multiple sources, including media reporting and direct liaison with in country assets. Included within the statistics are a […]

Deadline Postponed for Nasiriya Integrated Project

By John Lee. Iraq's Petroleum Contracts & Licensing Directorate (PCLD), part of the Ministry of Oil, has announced that following requests received from interested companies the deadline for submitting qualification information for the Nasiriya Integrated Project has been postponed to 28th February 2013. Documents sent by DHL are accepted provided that they have been sent […]

Joint Effort Delivers 3 Helicopters to Iraq

The U.S. Army Security Assistance Command with U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command and Program Executive Office Aviation facilitated and delivered three Bell 407 Scout helicopters to Iraqi Army Aviation today. This marks the sixth completed delivery of Iraqi Armed 407 Scout helicopter through Foreign Military Sales that began in 2010. "Many of the organizations […]