By Ala Jaff. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. The Erbil Bombings and Police Response: A Critical Point of View The role of the police and the security forces as First Responders immediately following the triple bombings outside the Security Services (Asayish) office […]
By John Lee. The Philippine government is pursuing a new agreement with Iraq on the hiring of more Filipino workers, reports The Philippine Star. Philippine Labour Secretary, Rosalinda Baldoz (pictured), said the agreement could fully open the market for Filipino workers. The country has already lifted the ban on workers going to Iraq, but hiring […]
By John Lee. An estimated 112.000 tourists visited the Kurdistan region during Eid festivities, according to a report from Aswat Al Iraq. The region's Investment Commission said the figures were 10 percent less than the previous year. The drpo has been attributed to the recent explosions, the closure of markets and shops, and the higher […]
During opening remarks, organizers of the 5th Baghdad International Film Festival publicly praised the U.S. Embassy for its role in funding the opening and closing ceremonies, festival publications, a photography exhibit, and a two-day photography and cinematography workshop at a local orphanage. Although U.S. officials were unable to attend, the Deputy Minister of Culture joined […]
By Reidar Visser. The following article was published by Reidar Visser, an historian of Iraq educated at the University of Oxford and currently based at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs. It is reproduced here with the author’s permission. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. It’s almost […]
By John Lee. Tehran Times reports that Iraq is set to sign a new contract covering gas imports from Iran. Deputy prime minister Hussain al-Shahristani (pictured) said a gas pipeline being built between Iran and Iraq could become operational in November. The countries signed a four-year agreement in July for the supply of 850,000 Mcf/d of […]
Decisive Operations, a British company that specialises in organisational improvement through leadership development, is partnering with the University of Kurdistan Hewler, UKH, to bring an important tourism workshop to Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan region of Iraq. UKH is a progressive institution with close links to the Kurdistan Regional Government, KRG. Charged with enriching […]
On October 20th, Ambassador Stephen Beecroft hosted a business roundtable with the representatives of several U.S. companies operating in Iraq. Although the local market presents certain challenges, there is an increasing number of substantial U.S. companies making strategic investment commitments in Iraq. The U.S. government is fully committed to increasing bilateral trade and U.S. investment […]
As part of his visit to Sweden last week, the Head of the KRG Department of Foreign Relations, Minister Falah Mustafa conducted a number of meetings at the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. There he met with Ms. Ann-Sofie Nilsson, the Director General of International Development Cooperation, Ambassador Reid Bari, the Head of the Middle […]
By John Lee. Iraq's Deputy Premier for Energy Affairs, Hussein al-Shahristani, has said that China is to buy 850.000 barrels per day of Iraqi oil in 2014. Aswat Al Iraq reports that China will buy 586.000 bpd of Iraqi oil this year, an increase on the 525.000 bpd achieved in 2012. (Source: Aswat Al Iraq)
By John Lee. Bulgarian representatives have discussed with Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Hussein Al Shahristani the possibility of increasing the export of Bulgarian grains, meat, eggs, vegetable oil and cigarettes to Iraq. Earlier this year, Bulgaria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nikolay Mladenov opened a new Bulgarian Embassy in Baghdad; Mr Mladenov has since been appointed […]
By Laith Hammoudi of IWPR. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. For decades, just two parties have dominated the Iraqi Kurdish political scene – the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). That division of power suffered an abrupt upset […]
