The U.S. Embassy reminds U.S. citizens that Iraq remains at high risk for kidnapping and terrorist violence. Recent reports indicate that militant groups may be surveilling U.S. citizens for possible kidnapping operations, particularly oil company employees working in Basrah Province, Iraq. The groups may be focused on U.S. citizens at hotels in the Basrah area. […]
The Iraqi Children Foundation (ICF) hosted its second annual “IN THEIR SHOES” 5K fun run/walk at Cameron Run Regional Park in Alexandria, VA, on Saturday, May 10, 2014. Participants ran to benefit desperately poor Iraqi orphans and street children after years of war. Iraq’s Ambassador to the US Lukman Faily ran as this year's Distinguished […]
As this week's Newsletter goes to press, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has started the bargaining to form a new government following his success in getting the most seats in the recent elections, albeit falling far short of a majority. A similar process after the last election four years ago took nearly a year to complete, […]
By John Lee. Iraq is preparing to tender the $1.3bn contract to deliver the marine works component of the first phase of the new Grand Fao [Faw] Port. Project director Asaad Rashid told MEED's Arabian World Construction Summit (AWCS): “We are evaluating prequalification documents from about 18 consortiums ... We shall issue the shortlist for […]
By Melissa Hancock for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. With the world's eyes focused on the recent Iraqi elections, little attention is being paid to the major changes taking place in Iraq's banking and finance industry. As part of an effort to liberalize the […]
Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani has signed an order tasking Prime Minister designate Nechirvan Barzani and Deputy Prime Minister designate Qubad Talabani to form the eighth Cabinet of the Kurdistan Regional Government. Prime Minister Barzani will continue in his role in the same capacity, while Minister Talabani will move from his current role as Head […]
By John Lee. Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hoshyar Zebari received on May 21, 2014, Ambassador of the Republic of the Russian Federation, Elia Morgnov. During the meeting, the Russian Ambassador congratulated the Iraqi people for the success of the legislative elections, hoping to achieve progress and prosperity of Iraq. The two sides discussed bilateral and […]
HKN Energy Ltd. (HKN) has announced that it has notified the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq (KRG) that the Swara Tika discovery is a “Commercial Discovery” pursuant to the terms of the Sarsang Production Sharing Contract. HKN, as operator of the Sarsang Block, has drilled two wells on the Swara Tika structure. The Swara Tika-1 […]
By John Lee. Shares in WesternZagros Resources were up 8 percent in early trading on Wednesday following the announcement of its operating and financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2014. Commenting on the first quarter results and subsequent events, WesternZagros's Chief Executive Officer Simon Hatfield (pictured) said: "There have been several key […]
By John Lee. Iraq’s parliament fully supports a project to build an $18 billion pipeline to export crude oil from Basra to Jordan’s port city of Aqaba. Speaking to The Jordan Times, Adnan Al Janabi, chairman of the Iraqi parliament's energy committee said: “We are very supportive of this strategic project with Jordan, which will […]
Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani yesterday continued discussions on deepening Kurdistan-UK relations in meetings with the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, the British Minister of State for International Development, Alan Duncan, and the British Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport, Robert Goodwill. In each meeting officials from both sides emphasised the importance of exploring new […]
By John Lee. Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari has met the Ambassador of the People's Republic of China, Wang Yong. The Minister confirmed Iraq's participation in the Fourth Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in the Asia States to be held in Shanghai, China. Iraq participates in the conference with a delegation comprising […]
