Archive | 2014

Iraq’s Missing Market

By Mark DeWeaver. In my last post I argued that Iraqi banks’ high cash/deposit ratios are due to the absence of an interbank market. If that is the case, you might think it would be easy to get the banks to put more of their deposits to work in the "real economy." Couldn’t somebody (e.g. […]

Iraq May Build Refinery in Sudan

By John Lee. The Minister for Oil Abdul Kareem Luaibi [Elaibi] has received the Sudanese Minister of Oil, Mr. Makkawi M. Awadh, and his delegation in his office in Baghdad. Following the meeting, Mr. Luaibi said: "We discussed [how] to supply Sudan with crude oil, as well as the possibility to participate in building a […]

Poverty and Unemployment Not Being Addressed

By Layth Mahdi, Agricultural Advisor. The opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Poverty and Unemployment Not Being Addressed in the Coming Iraqi Elections Iraq's poverty and unemployment is increasing every year despite the Government's efforts to implement programs to lower it. The United […]

Budget Problems go Beyond Erbil-Baghdad Crisis

By Harith Hasan for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. The Iraqi parliament still has not been able to approve the draft general budget for 2014, prompting Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to warn of the possibility of a major financial crisis and […]

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Koreans win $1.7bn Power Contracts

By John Lee. Reuters reports that Iraq has approved $1.7 billion in contracts with Korean companies Samsung Engineering and Hyundai Heavy Industries to build two engineering projects: Samsung won a $894.5 million contract to handle engineering, procurement and construction work on a degassing station in the Zubair oilfield; Hyundai won a $818 million contract to […]

Iraq-Iran Talks on Borders, Shatt al-Arab

Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari held talks in Tehran last week with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mohammad Javad Zarif, on the issue of the Shatt al- Arab, land borders and border rivers. The talks were held in a friendly and constructive atmosphere with a common desire to address the […]

BBK Bank Considers Kurdistan

By John Lee. The Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait (BBK) has announced plans to open a branch in Kurdistan this year. Abdul-Karim Bujeery, CEO of the bank, said: "The expansion in Kurdistan Region will be the next step to the bank , if the study of market [leads] to positive results." The bank hsa appointed […]

First Secondary School for Syrian Refugees

UNESCO and IRC open the First Secondary School for Syrian Refugees in Domiz Camp In another major initiative to respond to the Syrian refugees' crisis in Iraq and to help provide decent learning opportunities for the thousands of young people in the camps, UNESCO and the International Rescue Committee (IRC) held today a ceremony to […]

Weekly Security Update 25 Feb - 03 Mar 2014

By Constellis Consulting www.constellis-consulting.com Amid levels of violence in line with previous weekly averages, movements in the political sphere highlighted the different electoral strategies being followed by the government ahead of the parliamentary elections. On 25 February, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki stated the importance of maintaining the elections in April, confirming that the current timeframe […]

Total Considers "World-Scale" Petrochemical Plant

By John Lee. French oil giant Total is reported to be considering building a "world-scale" petrochemical complex in Iraq. AFP reports that Patrick Pouyanne, the head of Total's refining and chemicals division, said he signed a preliminary accord with Iraq's industry ministry in November to examine the feasibility of the complex in Basra. "They are […]

US Firms Line Up for Kurdistan

By Judit Neurink. This article was originally published by Rudaw, and is re-published by Iraq Business News with their kind permission. American Firms Line Up for Kurdistan, as Erbil Mulls US Ties Roll in the American brands! A US delegation for franchise businesses will be visiting the Kurdistan Region of Iraq soon, to see if […]