By Haider Najm. This article was originally published by Niqash. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. In May, the northern city of Erbil was declared Tourism Capital for the Middle East region for 2014. As Lebanese and Turkish investors compete to spend […]
By John Lee. Swedish aid money channeled to Iraq has gone missing, leading the government coalition partner the Centre Party to report the democracy project to the police. The Local reports that the project was administered by the minority party's international foundation CIS (Centerpartiets internationella stiftelse), but accountants realized that they could not account for […]
By Miriam Ali for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Women in Iraq have made huge leaps in terms of obtaining the right to work and participate in the economy. Nevertheless, they are still subject to sexual and social discrimination, not […]
By John Lee. Reuters reports that Iraq is still undecided about whether to carry out full maintenance on its Basra oil export terminals in September. According to the report this has created even more uncertainty for an oil market already worried about disruption in Libya and Egyptian unrest. Despite a report in July to the […]
By John Lee. Shares in Gulf Keystone Petroleum (GKP) have gained around 10 percent this week on rumours of a takeover. Bloomberg reports that, as the world’s biggest oil companies look for untapped fields, the company is sitting on a giant oil field in Iraqi Kurdistan that wouldn’t look out of place in a major’s […]
By John Lee. Reliance Industries Chairman, Mukesh Ambani (pictured), has told reporters that his company is exploring investment opportunities in Iraq. "We are evaluating all opportunities in the Iraqi oil and gas sector. But so far, nothing has been finalised and we will take a call on this -- both the downstream and upstream assets […]
The Governments of the Republic of Iraq and the United States of America reaffirmed their strategic partnership during a meeting of the Political and Diplomatic Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) on August 15, in Washington, DC. This meeting, held at the Department of State, was co-chaired by Secretary Kerry and Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari. This […]
By Tom Walker, Director, Assaye Risk COUNTRY OVERVIEW The prevailing situation in Iraq remains febrile and wrought with tension and violence amidst a series of devastating car bombings and shootings this week, which has resulted in many hundreds being killed, predominantly in the Shia neighborhoods in Baghdad during the end of Ramadan celebrations. In line […]
Iraq's Ministry of Electricity has just promised that shortages will be eliminated by the end of the year. Readers of Iraq Business News will remember a previous commitment, made in strident terms just four months ago, to end blackouts by the end of October. Ministry spokesperson Musaib Mudaris claims the country now produces around 11,000 […]
By John Lee. Austrian oil and gas company OMV has said that second-quarter profit dropped 29 percent as production fell in Libya and its gas-trading unit lost money, according to Bloomberg. Chief Executive Officer Gerhard Roiss (pictured) is shifting OMV’s focus to exploration and production, including in Iraqi Kurdistan, while selling assets like gas stations […]
By John Lee. The Ministry of Electricity’s 2013 budget has soared to $14 billion to help it end power outages in the country, reports Azzaman. But the ministry’s spokesperson Musaib Mudaris said the blackouts will continue until the end of the year, by which time output will reach 13,000 megawatts, enough to meet the country’s […]
By John Lee. The Iraqi Ministry of Housing and Reconstruction on Tuesday has announced a 25-billion-dinar ($21.5-million) plan to develop roads and bridges across the country. According to a report from Al-Shorfa, the plan involves building three bridges on the Euphrates in western Iraq and one in Kirkuk province. The ministry also plans to renovate […]
