Author Archive | Bob Tollast

US and Iraq Collaborate to Improve Service Delivery

By John Lee. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Deputy Mission Director Alonzo Wind joined the Secretary General of the Council of Ministers Secretariat, Dr. Ali Al-Allaq, in opening the Third National Conference on Excellence in Services at the Sheraton Hotel in Baghdad on March 24. The two-day conference provided an opportunity to recognize […]

Health Ministry: Iraq Needs 56,000 Physicians

By John Lee. Iraq's Health Ministry has announced the need for 56,000 more doctors, nurses, pharmacists  and other health workers in Iraq in order to reach a target ratio of 10 physicians per 10,000 of the population, according to Aswat al-Iraq. For that target to be reached in the next four years, the Ministry is coordinating […]

Metinvest to Supply Large Diameter Pipes

By John Lee. Metinvest Group received permission to supply large diameter pipes fabricated from internally produced pipe-making plate for oil and gas pipelines in Iraq. The Oil Ministry of Iraq included Metinvest Group into its list of certified suppliers of large diameter pipes manufactured from internally produced pipe-making plate. The move followed Azovstal Iron and […]

First of 10 New Fast Trains Ready for Shipment

By John Lee. China's Dongfang Electric Corp. has completed the first of 10 high speed, desert modified diesel trains at a ceremony attended by Iraq's ambassador to China, Railway Gazette reports. The trains were ordered in 2012, a year after Iraq announced plans for a Basra to Baghdad high speed rail route, an initiative that does not […]

Iraq Calls For Foreign Investment For New Housing

By John Lee. Iraq's housing minister Mohammed al-Darraji says that the country is planning to spend $5bn on new housing units in the next 3 years, but that the required 2.5 million new units will not be complete on time to meet demand, Rebuilding Iraq reports. Currently there will only be 130,000 new units by next year, […]

Shahristani Welcomes Barzani's 'Good Will' Offer

By John Lee. Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Hussein al-Shahristani (pictured) has welcomed Nechirvan Barzani's offer of sending 100,000 bpd of oil through the State Oil Marketing Company. According to Aswat al-Iraq, Barzani's widely reported "good will" gesture was also welcomed by former oil minister Ibrahim Bahr al-Uloum who was positive about the offer. Until the […]

Disqualified Candidates Spark Controversy in Iraq

By Mushreq Abbas for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. The newly issued judicial decisions disqualifying election candidates in Iraq have reopened the debate on the standards of justice and equal opportunity for candidates. This time the controversy was accompanied by a debate on the loose mechanisms […]

KRG Offers 100,000 bpd Through SOMO

By John Lee. Kurdish Regional Government PM Nechirvan Barzani (pictured) has offered to send 100,000 bpd of oil from the Kurdish region through the State Oil Marketing Company, Reuters reports. The move is designed to partially appease Baghdad in the on going and tortuous dispute over oil revenues and exports to Turkey. Currently over 1 million […]

Kentz-Foster Wheeler Venture Wins Shell Contracts

By John Lee. Foster Wheeler Kentz Energy Services DMCC, the Dubai-based joint venture company of Foster Wheeler and Kentz, announced today that it has been awarded framework contracts by Shell Iraq Petroleum Development B.V. ("Shell"), for the provision of engineering, procurement and related services for the Majnoon Oil Field Commercial Production Project in Iraq. Shell […]

Delegates From 40 Nations Attend Terror Summit

By Omar al-Jaffal for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. The Iraqi government held a conference on combating international terrorism on March 12-13 in Baghdad, in which it suspended its official work on the opening day of the conference. Although the official reason for the […]

Iraq-Kuwait Flights To Resume

By John Lee. Direct flights between Kuwait and Iraq have resumed after 2 decades, Mawtani reports. After initially starting at 2 flights a week, the eventual aim is to have daily flights, according to Iraqi Airways company director Capt. Saad al-Khafajy. Al-Khafajy was optimistic about flying more passengers between the two countries on Iraq's national carrier, noting […]